
ClassL^ V Asm 



lOEMAL SCHOOLS, 



AND OTHER 



INSTITUTIONS, AGENCIES, AND MEANS 



DESIGNED FOR THE 



PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. 



BY HENRY BARNARD, 

SOPEEINTENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS OF CONNECTICUT. 



PART I.-UNITED STATES AND BRITISH PROVINCES. 
PART IL-EUROPE. 



HARTFORD: 

PUBLISHED BY CASE, TIFFANY AND COMPANY. 
1851. 



CIRCULAR. 



The following pages constitute the second of the series of Essays which 
the undersigned was authorized by the Legislature in 1850 to prepare for 
general circulation in Connecticut, on topics connected with the condition 
and improvement of our Conunon Schools. The necessity and importance 
of specific preparation for the business of teaching are recognized by the 
State in its recent legislation for the establishment of an institution to be 
devoted exclusively to this object. The gradual development of this idea 
from its first formal presentation by Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudetj in 1825, 
to its partial realization in the State Normal School at New Britain, in 
1850, is traced in the documents which are here embodied. 

While Connecticut was discussing the subject, or slumbering over it, 
' with the half patriarchal, half poetical dream," which is apt to come over 
us when we think of our "venerable common school system," Massachusetts 
was acting not only in this but in other departments of educational improve- 
ment, with a vigor and liberality which has placed her public schools over 
at least one half of her territory, at least a half century in advance of our 
own in towns of the same wealth and population. New- York, too, whose 
school system as originally drafted by a native of Connecticut, was copied 
in its essential features from our own, under the lead of De Witt Clinton 
in 1826, commenced a series of improvements which resulted in Teachers 
Departments, District Libraries, Union Schools, County Inspection 
Teachers' Institutes, and a Normal School, which have done more, and are 
doing more now to develop the resources of the State than her gigantic 
system of railroads and canals. 

The city of Philadelphia, whose system of public schools, made free by 
taxation on property, went into operation only two years before Connecti- 
cut passed a law exempting the people from the obligation of raising a tax 
on property for a portion of the expense of supporting common schools — 
{the most disastrous law ever placed on her statute book) — has now a system 
of public instruction from the Primary School for children four years of 
age, to the Normal School in which the female teachers of all her schools 
can be trained, maintained with a liberality, and embracing opportunities of 
an extended English, classical, and business education, which is free to all 
and practically enjoyed by the children of the rich and poor — of which 
we have no approach in any city of our State. 

The State of Michigan, which has been admitted into the Union since 
the idea of a Normal School was first presented in Connecticut, has set 



4 CIRCtJLAK. 

apart, not. the bonus of a bank as a temporary experiment, but a permanent 
fund for the endowment of an institution devoted exclusively to the pro- 
fessional education of teachers. 

The province of Upper Canada, stimulated by the example of the neigh- 
boring State of New- York, has within ten years organized a system of 
common schools more complete in its plan, more efficient in its administra- 
tion, and embracing more of the agencies of educational progress, than the 
system of any one of the United States. At the head of these agencies 
of progress stands the Provincial Normal School,for which,besides a standing 
appropriation of $10,000 a year for the current expenses, the sum of $55,000 
has just been almost unanimously voted by the Legislature, to provide 
a suitable building and apparatus for the accommodation of the school. 

Some notice of these institutions will be given in the following pages, 
together with the republication of a number of documents and addresses 
setting forth the origin, nature, and advantages of Normal Schools, and 
her institutions, agencies, and means, for the prof essional education and 
improvement of teachers, in the United States. 

This Essay will be followed by a volume on the same great topic, in 
which an account will be given of the organization and course of instruc- 
tion of several of the best Normal Seminaries in Europe, together with an 
outline of the system of Public Schools in the countries where these Sem- 
inaries have been longest in operation. Although not prepared exclusively 
or originally for this series of publications, copies will be furnished to all 
orders from any part of the State, on the same terms with the Principles 
of School Architecture, viz : at half the cost of publication. 
HENRY BARNARD, 

Superintendent of Common Schools. 

Hartford, January 6th, 185L 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES, 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 
Introduction, . . . . • "? 

Table. Number, location, and date of erec- 
tion of Normal Schools, ... 8 

CONNECTICUT. • 

LegislativeHistoryof Normal Schools, . 9 
I>aw establishing State Normal School, 23 
First Annual Report of Board of Trustees, 27 
Reportof Superintendent for 1850, . 30 
Topics for Lectures, Discussion, and Compo- 
sition on the Theory and Practice of Edu- 
cation, ...... 37 

Remarks on Teachers' Seminaries, by Rev. 

T. H.Gallaudet, in 1825, ... 39 
Circular — Terms of Admission, Course of In- 
struction, &c.. .... 47 

Hints respecting Applicants for Admission, 51 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

History of Normal Schools, ... 61 

Resolves establishing Normal Schools, . 62 

Regulations respecting Admission, Studies, &c. 55 

Normal School at West Newton, . . 59 

Letter from Cyrus Peirce, . . . 61 | 

Normal School at Bridgewater, . . 65 

Letter from Nathan Tillinghast, . . 66 

Condition of State Normal Schools in 1850, 67 

Report of Board of Education, . . 67 

" Visitors of West Newton School, 69 

Westfield " 70 

" " Bridgewater, " 66 

Report of Secretary of the Board, . 74 

Addresses and other Documents connected with 
the History of J^Tormal Schools in Massa- 
chusetts, 

Outline of an Institution for Teachers, by 

James G. Carter, 1825, ... 75 

Memorial of American Institute of Instruc- 
tion, 85 

Teachers' Seminary at Andover, . . 92 

Remarks of Dr. Channing on Education, 
Teachers, and Normal Schools, . 93 

Normal Schools and Teachers' Seminaries, by 

Calvin E. Stowe, . . . . 101 

Necessity of, in each State, • . 102 

Preparation for Admission, . . 104 

Model School and School of Practice, 105 

Course of Instruction, . . . 10.') 

Advantages, 113 

Objections, 115 

Notes. Chinese Education, . . 117 



Page. 
Prussian Schools prior to 1819, . 118 

School Counsellor Dinter, . . . 119 
Teachers' Conferences in Prussia, . 120 

Educational Convention in Plymouth County, 125 
Rev. Charles Brooks, . . . 125 
Ichab(j|l Morton, .... 128 
Robert Rantoul, . . . . 128 
Rev. Dr. Putnam, .... 129 
John Ciuincy Adams, . . . 130 j, 
Daniel Webster, . . . . 131 
Rev. Dr. Robbins 131 

Special Preparation, aPre-requisite to Teach- 
ing, a Lecture by Horace Mann, 1838, 131 

Address at the opening of the Normal School 
at Barre, by Edward Everett, . . 147 

Remarks by Horace Mann and others on the 
opening of the new Normal School house 
in Bridgewater, ..... 161 

Dedicatory Address at Bridgewater, by Wil- 
liam G. Bates, 1846, . . . . 167 

Dedicatory Address at Westfield, by Rev. 
Heman Humphrey, .... 179 

Teachers' Associations and Agencies . 189 

Teachers' Institutes 189 

County Teachers' Association, . . 190 
Massachusetts Teachers' Association, 191 

American Institute of Instruction, . 191 

List of Lectures delivered before, . 192 
Agents of Board of Education, . . 194 

Educational Periodicals, . . . 194 

NEW YORK. 

History of Normal Schools, . . . 195 

Plan of Teachers' Departments in Academies, 197_' 

Report of Prof. Potter, . . . 198' 

State Normal School at Albany, . . 201 

Address of Samuel S. Randall, . . 202 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Normal School in City of Philadelphia, . 209 
RHODE ISLAND. 

Modes of Professional Improvement adopted 
from 1843 to 1848, .... 219 

Professorship of Didactics in Brown Univer- 
sity, 223 

MICHIGAN. 
State Normal School at Ypsilanti, . . 223 

BRITISH PROVINCES. 
Upper Canada, ..... 224 
Nova Scotia, 224 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the winter of 1825, there appeared, almost simultaneously,* but 
without any knowledge of each other's views, and even without any per- 
sonal knowledge of each other, in the Connecticut Observer, printed in 
Hartford, over the signature of a " Father," and in the Patriot, printed in 
Boston, over the signature of " Frankhn," a series of articles in which the 
claims of Education as a science, and Teaching as an art, were ably die- 
cussed, and an Institution was proposed in each series, having the same 
general features, for the special training of teachers for their profession., 
These articles were collected and published by their respective authors, in 
pamphlet form, the first with the title of " Plan of a Seminary for the 
Education of Instructors of Youth, by Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet. Bos- 
ton, 1825," — and the last, with the title " Essays on Popular Education.^ 
containing a particular examination of the Schools of Massachusetts, 
and an Outline of an Institution for the Education of Teachers, by James 
G. Carter. Boston, 1826." 

In the same year, 1825. Walter R. Johnson, then residing in German- 
town, Penn., without any knowledge of the views of Mr. Carter or Mr. 
Gallaudet, in a pamphlet, entitled " Observations on the Improvement of 
Seminaries of Learning,^'' set forth the necessity and advantages of 
schools for the special training of teachers. 

In the same year, in which appeared the earliest publication on the 
subject in Connecticut, Governor Clinton commended to the consider- 
ation of the Legislature of New York, " the education of competent 
teachers;" and in 1826, "the establishment of a seminary" for this pur- 
pose. From this time, the importance of the professional education of 
teachers, and of institutions specially devoted to this object, began to at- 
tract the attention of statesmen and educators, until, at the close of a 
quarter of a century, the idea is practically realized in each of the four 
states in which the enterprise was first proposed. The history of the efforts 
made by the friends of educational improvement to estabhsh Normal 
Schools in these states is full of instruction and encouragement to those 
who are laboring in the same field, and for the same object, in other states. 

_ ' The article by Mr. Gallaudet, containing the statement of his plan of a Seminary, was pub- 
lished on the 4th of .January, 182.5, and those of Mr. Carter, devoted to his Outline of an Insti- 
tution, appeared the 10th and 15th of February, 1825. 



8 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Normal Schools already established in this country are, it is be- 
lieved, doing much good, and realizing the promises of those who have 
been active in getting them up ; but as compared with European Insti- 
tutions of the same kind, and the demands for professional training in all 
our schools, they labor under many disadvantages. 

1. Pupils are admitted without adequate preparatory attainments, and 
without sufficient test of their " aptness to teach." 

2. A majority of the pupils do not remain a sufficient length of time, to 
acquire that knowledge of subjects and methods, and especially that intel- 
lectual power and enlightenment, which are essential to the highest suc- 
cess in the profession. 

3. There are no endowments to reduce the expense of a prolonged resi- 
dence to a class of poor but promising pupils. 

4. They are not provided with a sufficient number of teachers for the 
number of pupils admitted. 

5. From the want of a well-defined and limited purpose in each institu- 
tion, they are aiming to accomplish too much — more for every class of pu- 
pils, — those with, and those without previous experience, — the young, and 

' the more advanced, — those intended for country and unclassified schools, 
and those intended for the highest grade of city and town schools, — than 
can be well done for either class of pupils. 

Further experience will make these deficiencies more apparent, not to 
those who have the immediate charge of these institutions, for they are 
already painfully conscious of them, but to the people, legislatures, and 
liberally-disposed men, who must apply the remedies by increased ap- 
propriations to existing, and the establishment of additional schools. 

The following is a list of the Normal Schools already established, with 
the location and date of the establishment of each school. 

TABLE 

OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN AMERICA. 



State and Location. 



Massachusetts, 

"West Newton, . ...... 

Bridgewater, . ...... 

Weslfield, 

New York, 

Albany, 

Pennsylvania, 

Philadelphia, 

Connecticut 

New Britain 

Michigan, 

Upsilanti, 

British Puoyinces, 

Toronto, for Upper Canada, . 

St. John's, for New Brunswick, . 



1839 
1839 
1839 

1845 

1848 

1849 

1850 

1846 
1848 



CONNECTICUT. 



The earliest mention of the establishment of a Seminary for Teachers 
in Connecticut, was made by Mr. William Russell,* in August 1823, in a 
pamphlet, entitled Suggestions on Education : 

" The common schools for children, are, in not a few instances, conducted by 
individuals who do not possess one of the qualifications of an instructor; and, 
in very many cases, theie is barely knowledge enough ' to keep the teacher at a 
decent distance from his scholars.' An excellent suggestion was lately made 
on a branch of this subject, by a writer in a periodical publication. His pro- 
posal was, that a seminary should be founded, for the teachers of district 
schools; that a course of study should be prescribed to persons who are desir- 
ous of obtaining the situation of teachers in such schools ; and that no individu- 
al should be accepted as an instructor, who had not received a license, or de- 
gree, from the proposed institution. The effects of such an improvement in 
education seem almost incalculable. The information, the intelligence, and 
the refinement, which might thus be diffused among the body of the people, 
would increase the prosperity, elevate the character, and promote the happi- 
ness of the nation to a degree perhaps unequalled in the world," 

In the first number of the Connecticut Observer, published in Hartford, 
Conn., January 4, 1825, Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudett, then Principal ol 
the American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, commenc- 
ed a series of Essays, with the signature of" A Father," on a Plan of a 
Seminary for- the Education of Instructors of Youth. These essays 
attracted much attention in Connecticut, and other parts of New Eng- 
land, and were collected and published in a pamphlet of 40 pages, in Bos- 
ton, in the same year. Selections from the same were re-published in 
the newspapers, and the plan was presented and discussed in the educa- 
tional conventions which assembled in Hartford, in 1828 and in 1830. 
The following is the substance of the plan : 

" Suppose, Mr. Editor, an Institution, call it by what name you please, should 
be estalDlished somewhere in New England, for the training up of young men 
for the profession of instructors of youth in the common branches of English 
education. Suppose such an institution should be so well endowed, by the lib- 
erality of the public, or of individuals, as to have two or three professors, men 
of talents and habits adapted to the pursuit, who should devote their lives to 
the object of the ' Theory and Practice of the Education of Youth,' and who 
should prepare and deliver, and print, if you and they please, a course of lectures 
on the subject. 

■ Mr. Russell was at that date a teacher in the New Township Academy, New Haven. He 
afterward removed to Boston, where he engaged earnestly in the work of educational improve- 
ment. In 1826 he became editor of the Journal of Education, the first periodical devoted exclu- 
sively to the subject, published in the English language. Mr. Russell is now Principal of the 
Normal Institute at Merrimacli, New Hampshire. 



10 • NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. 

Let the Institution be furnished with a libranj, which should contain all the 
works, theoretical and practical, in all languages, which can be obtained on the 
subject of education, and also with all the apparatus that modern ingenuity has 
devised for this purpose ; such as maps, charts, globes, orreries, &c. &c. 

Let there be connected with the Institution a school, smaller or larger, as 
circumstances might dictate, of indigent children and youth, and especially oj 
foreign tjouth whom we are rearing for future benevolent efforts, in which the theo- 
ries of the professors might be reduced to practice, and from which daily expe- 
rience would derive a thousand useful instructions. 

To such an Institution let young men resort, of piety, of talents, of industry, 
and of adaptedness to the business of the instructors of youth, and who would 
expect to devote their lives to so important an occupation. Let them attend a 
regular course of lectures on the subject of education ; read the best works ; 
take their turns in the instruction of the experimental school, and after thus becom- 
ing qualified for their office, leave the Institution with a suitable certificate or 
diploma, recommending them to the confidence of the public." 

In 1838, an '■^ Act to provide for the better supervision of Common 
Schools,^'' creating a Board of Commissioners, with a Secretary, who was 
" to devote his whole time to ascertain the condition, increase the interest, 
and promote the usefuhiess of common schools," was passed by the Le- 
gislature. In a speech made by the chairman of the Committee that 
reported the bill, in the House of Representatives, (Henry Barnard, of 
Hartford.) the following remarks were made in reference to this par- 
ticular subject : 

" This measure, if adopted and sustained by the Legislature and the people 
for ten years, must result in making some legislative provision for the better 
education, and special training of teachers for their delicate and difficult labors. 
Every man who received his early education in the district schools of Con- 
necticut, must be conscious, and most of us must exhibit in our own mental 
habits, and in the transactions of ordinary business, the evidence of the defec- 
tive instruction to which we were subjected in these schools. And no one can 
spfend a half hour in the best common school in his neighborhood, without seeing, 
both in the arrangements, instruction, and discipline of the teacher, the want, 
not only of knowledge on his part, but particularly of a practical ability to 
make what he does know available. He has never studied and practiced his art, 
the almost creative art of teaching, under an experienced master, and probably 
has never seen, much less spent any considerable portion of time in visiting, 
any better schools than the one in which he was imperfectly taught — in which 
he said his lessons, as the business is significantly described in a phrase in com- 
mon use. 

The first step will be to get at the fact, and if it is as I suppose, that our 
teachers are not qualified, and that there is now no adequate provision made in 
our Academies and higher seminaries for the right qualification of teachers of 
district schools, then let the fact be made known to the Legislature and the peo- 
ple, by reports, by the press, and by popular addresses, — the only ways in which 
the Board can act, on either the JLegislature or the schools ;— and in time, 
sooner or later, we shall have the semiDaries, and the teachers, unless the laws 
which have heretofore governed the progress of society, and of education in 

E articular, shall cease to operate. It is idle to expect good schools until we 
ave good teachers, and the people will rest satisfied with such teachers as 
they have, until their attention is directed to the subject, and until we can 
demonstrate the necessity of employing better, and show how they can be made 
better, by proper training in classes or seminaries established for this spe- 
cific purpose. With better teachers will come better compensation and more 
permanent employment. The people pay now quite enough for the article they 
get. It is dear at even the miserably low price at which so much of it can be 
purchased. Let us have light on the whole subject of teachers, — their qualifi- 
cations, preparation, compensation and supervision, for on these points there 
is a strange degree of indifference, not to say ignorance, on the part both of indi- 
viduals, and of the public generally." 



NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. { { 

During the year following the establishment of the Board, the Secre- 
tary, (Mr. Barnard,) published in the Connecticut Common School Journal 
a number of articles, original and selected, in which the professional edu- 
cation of teachers was discussed, and the history of Normal Schools in 
Prussia, Holland, and France presented. In the course of the four years 
in which the Journal was published, the Essays of Mr. Gallaudet, the 
Report of Prof Stowe on Normal Schools and Teachers' Seminaries, all 
that portion of Prof Baches Report on Education in Europe, devoted to 
an account of particular institutions for the education of teachers, and 
many other documents and articles on the same subject, were spread 
before the people of this state. Of several numbers of the Journal devo- 
ted to these publications, more than ten thousand copies were circulated. 

In the First Annual Report of the Secretary of the Board of Commis- 
sioners of Common Schools, submitted to the General Assembly, in May, 
1839, the establishment " of at least one seminary for teachers," is urged 
in the following manner : 

" As there are some who still regard it as an experiment, it can be at first for 
the training of female teachers for the common schools. Such an institution, 
■with a suitable principal and assistants, and especially a model school con- 
nected with it, in which theory could be carried into practice, and an example 
given of what a district school ought to be, would, by actual results, give an 
impulse to the cause of popular education, and the procuring of good teachers, 
that could be given in no other way. The time of continuance at such an insti- 
tution could be longer or shorter according to circumstances. Even a short 
continuance at it would often be of vast benefit. It would furnish an illustra- 
tion of better methods of instruction and government than " the district school as 
it is" can give, which is the only model a large majority of our teachers are 
now familiar with. The expense to those attending, need not be great, if such 
a seminary were moderately endowed from the public treasury, and the contri- 
butions of towns and public spirited individuals. To secure this most desirable 
co-operation, the state appropriation might be made on condition that an equal 
or greater amount be raised from other sources. Once established, it would 
speedily draw to it numbers of our young women, to improve the qualifications 
they already possess for teaching, and give the experience and skill which are 
necessary. If wisely managed, it would give credentials to none but the best 
of teachers. 

They will command good wages. Those employing them would expect to 
gis'-e such wages. For the object in applying to this source would be to get 
teachers of superior qualifications at an enhanced price. The supply would 
create a demand. The demand would in turn secure a greater supply of well- 
educated teachers for the primary schools. Through them, better methods of 
teaching, by which an increased amount of instruction, and that of a more 
practical character, would be disseminated through a large number of districts. 
The good done would thus not be confined to the comparatively few who should 
pursue the studies of the seminary, or acquire skill and experience in the model 
school. Each would carry out the same methods. Enterprising teachers, too, 
who had not enjoyed the same opportunity for improvement, would strive to 
excel those who had ; and thus a wholesome spirit of emulation would be pro- 
voked among teachers. 

One such seminary, with the model school annexed, or rather forming an 
essential part of the institution, where the best methods of school government, 
and all the numerous and complicated processes of teaching, developing, and 
guiding the human mind, and cultivating the moral nature, could be taught and 
illustrated, would be the safest and least expensive way of testing the practica- 
bility of introducing others, both for males and females, into every county of 
the state, as a part of our common school system." 



12 NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. 

This document was referred to a " Joint Select Committee on Common 
Schools," of the two Houses of the General Assembly, to whom the fol- 
lowing ^^ Report and Resohition respecting the Education of Teachers,^'' 
was submitted, May, 1839: 

" The Joint Select Committee on Common Schools, to whom was referred 
the Report of the Board of Commissioners of Common Schools, together with the 
Report of their Secretary, have had the same under consideration, and beg 
leave to report in part, that in their estimation, the main deficiency in the com- 
m;i schools of the State, is an inadequate supply of well-qualified teachers, 
and tiiat to supply this deficiency, and thereby improve the quality, and in- 
crease the amonnt of instruction communicated in these schools, which must 
forever remain the principal reliance of a vast majority of parents for the edu- 
cation of their children, the experience of other states and countries demon- 
strates the necessity of making some legislative provision for the education of 
teachers. With this view, and to secure the co-operation of counties, towns 
and individuals who may be more directly benefitted by this appropriation, or 
who may choose to unite with the State in elevating the character of the com- 
mon schools in the mode attempted, the Committee recommend the passage of 
the accompanying resolution. All of which is respectfully submitted, 
By order of the Committee, 

JOHN A. ROCKWELL, Chairman. 

Resolved, That the Coinptroller of public accounts is hereby authorized to 
draw an order on the Treasurer, in favor of the Board of Commissioners of 
Common Schools, for the sum of $5000, or such portions thereof as they may 
request, to be paid out of any money not otherwise appropriated; provided said 
Board shall certify that an amount equal to that applied for, has been placed 
at their disposal ; both sums to be expended under the direction of said Board 
in promoting and securing the qualifications in teachers for the common schools 
of Connecticut." 

The resolution called forth a full expression of opinion in the House 
of Representatives, and was finally passed in that body without a dissent- 
ing voice. 

The Secretary of the Board, who was a member from Hartford, in the 
course of discussion, made the following remarks in the House of Repre- 
sentatives : 

" The report of the Committee, brief as it is, embodies the substance of all 
I should have to say, if I should review in detail the condition of our common 
schools, with a view of proposing a series of measures for their improvement. 
The great want of these schools is that of better teachers. Good teacliers will 
make better schools, and schools made better by the labors of good teachers, is 
the best argument which can be addressed to the community in favor of improv- 
ed school- houses, a judicious selection of a uniform series of text books in the 
schools of the same society, of vigilant and intelligent supervision, and liberal 
appropriations for school purposes. Give me good teachers, and in five years I 
will work not a change, but a revolution in the education of the children of 
this State. I will not only improve the results, but the machinery, the entire 
details of the system by which these results are produced. Every good teach- 
er will himself become a pioneer, and a missionary in the cause of educational 
improvement. The necessity of giving such a teacher every facility of a well- 
located, well-ventilated, and' well-seated school-house, ofgivmg the teacher a 
timely supply of the best text books and apparatus, and of keeping him em- 
ployed through the year, and from year to year, with just such pupils and stu- 
dies as he can teach to the best advantage— these things will be seen and felt by 
parents, and by districts. And the public, as represented m the Legislature, 
will see to it that much of our defective legislation is supplied by that which 
will create and sustain a popular interest in the subject, lead to the appoint- 
ment of faithful officers, assign to each class of officers appropriate duties, 
subject all appropriations of school money to severe scrutiny, provide for the 



NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. 



1^ 



training and adequate compensation of good teachers, and the employment of 
such teachers in schools of dilferent grades. The idea of employing a gradu- 
ate of a college to teach the alphabet to young children, will be given up, not 
only as poor economy, but as leading to the neglect of accomplished female 
teachers, who can do not only that work, but the whole work of education in 
primary and in small district schools, much better than the best male teachers. 
But let us not deceive ourselves. Five thousand dollars will not make ade- 
quate provision for the training of teachers. The entire sum will not properly 
endow a Normal School. Small as the sum is, it is the largest sum I dare pro- 
pose at this time, and so advised the Committee. But as one of those who may 
be intrusted with its expenditure, I should not advise its appropriation at this 
time, to the establishment of a Normal School. This sum should be so expen- 
ded as to reach, if practicable, every teacher in the state. The teachers should 
be induced to come together for a week, or a month, and attend a course of 
instruction on the best methods of school teaching and government. They 
should profit by the lectures and practical hints of experienced teachers. They 
should have access to, and be induced to purchase and read good books on the 
theory and practice of teaching. They should be induced to form associations 
for mutual improvement, the advancement of their common profession, and 
the general improvement of education, and the schools of the state. They are 
the natural guardians of this great interest — at least they are the co-operators 
with parents in this work of educating the rising generation, to take the place 
of that which is passing off the stage. They are the chosen priesthood oi edu- 
cation — they must bear the ark on their shoulders. The appropriation thus 
applied, so as to improve the teachers now in he school, and create in them a 
thirst for something higher and better than can be given in any temporary course 
of instruction, will lead to the establishment of an institution for the profession- 
al education and training of teachers, the great agency by which the cause of 
education is to be carried upward and onward in this state. Though the pros- 
pect is dark enough, I think I can see the dawning of a better day, on the 
mountain tops, and the youngest members of this house, if they live to reach 
the age of the oldest, will see a change pass over the public mind, and over 
public action, not only in respect to the professional education of teachers, but 
the whole subject of common schools. Old, dilapidated, inconvenient school- 
houses will give place to new, attractive, and commodious structures. Young 
children will be placed universally under the care of accomplished female 
teachers; female teachers will be employed in every grade of schools as assist- 
ants, and in most of our country districts, as sole principals : a school of a 
'higher order' than the district school will receive the older boys and girls, 
not only of a district, but of a society, and the common school will no longer be 
regarded as common, because it is cheap, inferior, and patronized only by the 
poor, and those who are indifferent to the education of their children, but com- 
mon as the light and the air, because its blessings are open to all, and enjoyed 
by all. The passage of this resolution will hasten on that day ; but whether the 
resolution is passed or not, that day will assuredly come, and it will bring 
along a train of rich blessings which will be felt in the field and the workshop, 
and convert many a home into a circle of unfading smiles. For one, I mean 
to enjoy the satisfaction of the labor, let who will enter into the harvest." 

In the Senate it was referred to the Board of Commissioners of Com- 
mon Schools, to report to the next General Assembly a specific plan of 
expenditure. 

What the Legislature thus refused to do, the Secretary undertook to 
do at his own expense, in order " to show the practicability of making 
some provision for the better qualification of common school teachers, by 
giving them an opportunity to revise and extend their knowledge of the 
studies usually pursued in district schools, and of the best methods of 
school arrangements, instruction and government, under the recitations 
and lectures of experienced and well-known teachers and educators." 

A class was formed from such teachers of Hartford county as were dis- 



14 NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. 

posed to come together on public notice, and placed under the general 
charge of Mr. Wright, the Principal of the Grammar School. Mr. 
Wright gave instruction in Grammar and in methods of school keeping^ 
Mr. Post, a teacher in the Grammar School, reviewed the whole subject 
of Mental and Practical Arithmetic, with full explanations of the difficult 
points in Fractions, Roots, &c. Professor Davies explained the different 
parts of the higher Mathematics, so far as they were ever taught in dis- 
trict schools, or would help to explain elementary Arithmetic. Rev. Mr. 
Barton, formerly connected with the Teachers' Seminary at Andover, 
gave lessons in Reading. Rev. T. H. Gallaudet explained how Compo- 
sition could be taught even to the younger classes in s hools, and gave 
several familiar lectures on school government, and the instruction of very 
young children by means of the slate. Mr. Brace, Principal of Hartford 
Female Seminary, explained the first principles of Mathematical and 
Astronomical Geography, the use of Globes, &c. Mr. Snow, Principal 
of the Center District School, gave several practical lessons in methods of 
teaching, with classes in his own school. Mr. Barnard delivered several 
lectures explanatory of the relations of the teacher to the school system, 
to parents and their pupils ; also on the laws of health to be practically 
observed by pupils and teachers in the school-room ; and on the best 
modes of conducting Teachers' Associations, and interesting parents. A 
portion of each day was also devoted to oral discussions and written essays 
on subjects connected with teaching, and to visiting the best schools in 
Hartford. Before separating, the members of the Teachers' Class pub- 
lished a " Card," expressing " their most cordial thanks, for the very 
excellent course of instruction which they have been permitted to enjoy 
during a few weeks past. They also beg leave to present their sincere 
thanks to those gentlemen who have so kindly instructed them, for the 
very familiar, lucid and interesting manner in which the different subjects 
have been presented." 

On the success of this experiment, the Secretary of the Board, in the 
Connecticut Common School Journal, for November, 1839, says, 

" We have no hesitation in saying that a judicious application of one-fifth of 
the sum appropriated unanimously by the House of Representatives, to pi'omote 
the education of teachers for common schools, in different sections of the State, 
would have accomplished more for the usefulness of tlie coming vt'inter schools 
and the ultimate prosperity of the school system, than the expenditure of half 
the avails of the School Fund in the present way. One thousand at least of 
the eighteen hundred teachers, would have enjoyed an opportuniiy of critically 
revising the studies which they will be called upon to teach, with a full expla- 
nation of all the principles involved, and with reference to the connection which 
one branch of knowledge bears to another, and also to the best methods of com- 
municaiing each, and the adaptation of different methods to different minds. 
They would have become familiar with the views and methods of experienced 
teachers, as they are carried out in better conducted schools than those with 
which they had been faiiailiar. They would have entered upon their schools 
with a rich fund of practical knowledge, gathered from observation, conversa- 
tion and lectures; and with many of their own defective, erroneous, and per- 
haps mischievous views, corrected and improved. Who can tell how many 
minds will be perverted, how many tempers ruined, how much injury done to 
the heart, the mirrals, and the manners of children, in consequence of the injudi- 



NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. Jg 

cious methods of inexperienced and incompetent teachers, the coming winter*? 
The heart, the manners, the morals, the minds of the children are, or should be 
in the eye of the state, too precioas materials for a teacher to experiment upon, 
■with a view to qualify himself for his profession ; and yet the teacher is com- 
pelled to do so under the present order of things. He has no opportunity afford- 
ed him, as every mechanic has, to learn his trade ; and if he had, there is but 
little inducement held out for him to do this. No man is so insane as to employ 
a workman to construct any valuable or delicate piece of mechanism, who is 
to learn how to do it for the first time on that very article. No one employs 
any other than an experienced artist to repair a watch. No parent intrusts 
the management of a lawsuit, involving his property or his reputation, to an 
attorney who has not studied his profession and given evidence of his ability. 
No one sends for a physician to administer to his health, who has not studied 
the human constitution and the nature and uses of medicine. No one sends a 
shoe to be mended, or a horse to be shod, or a plough to be repaired, except to 
an experienced workman; and yet parents will employ teachers, who are to 
educate their children for two worlds — who are to mould and fashion and 
develop that most delicate, complicated, and wonderful piece of mechanism., 
the human being, the most delicate and wonderful of all God's creations — to fit 
them for usefulness in life, to become upright and intelligent witnesses, jurors, 
electors, legislators, and rulers, safe in their power to resist the manifold temp- 
tations to vice and crime which will beset their future path, strong and happy 
in the ' godlike union of right feelings with correct principles.' " 

From the proceedings of the Board of Commissioners, it appears that 

the subject received their attention, and they tlius refer to it in their 

Report of 1840 : 

" Wherever Normal Schools have been established and ably sustained, the 
experiment has uniformly resulted in supplying teachers of a superior order. 
As in every other art whose principles are reduced to rule, and matured into a 
system, the learner is not limited to the slow and scanty results of his single, 
unaided experience, but is at once enriched with the accumulated treasures ot 
all who have labored in the same mine before him. Without such an oppor- 
tunity, he Ynay be compared to the medical practitioner, who commences his 
labors without the knowledge of any settled principles of his art, but expects to 
acquire his knowledge of his profession in the course of his practice. If it is 
plain that the physician needs, at the commencement of his career, that knowl- 
edge of the healing art, which contains the embodied experience of those who 
have gone before him, and carried his profession to the highest degree of excel- 
lence, no less does the instructor of a school need the wisdom of his predeces- 
sors to guide him, at his first setting out ; nor can he any better afford to wait 
for the slow returns of his own experience. Indeed, there is in the case of the 
young teacher, a peculiar need of this wisdom in advance, since the employ- 
ment is not usually a business for life, but only of a few years at farthest, — a 
period in itself too short to gain much of the wisdom of experience, and termi- 
nated almost as soon as such wisdom begins to be acquired. 

In the opinion of the Board, we can no^ make an adequate provision for the 
supply of the requisite number of teachers, who shall be at once capable of teach- 
ing, in the best manner, all that the pupils of our common schools are capable 
of learning, and of conducting the order and government of their institutions, 
according to the most approved methods, without the establishment of normal 
SCHOOLS, devoted exclusively to the education of teachers in the principles and 
practice of their profession, and guided by men eminent for their talents and 
practical wisdom. But if it is thought that we are not prepared to erect and 
sustain seminaries of this independent and elevated description, the Board 
would suggest the expediency of commencing the work of educating teachers 
on a limited scale, by connecting a department for this purpose, with some of 
the existing academies in different sections of the state. A small amount of 
funds, judiciously expended in the modes indicated by the Secretary in his 
Report, would, in the opinion of the Board, accomplish a great, immediate 
good in improving the qualifications of our common school teachers. 

The resolution appropriating five thousand dollars from the Treasury, to 
be expended by the Board, in promoting and securing the requisite qualiiica- 



16 NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. 

tion of teachei's for the comnion schools of the state, provided, that an amount 
equal to that applied for should be placed at their disposal from other sources, 
for the same object, which passed the House of Representatives, at the last ses- 
sion cf the Legislature, and was afterward, by a joint vote of both Houses, 
referred to the Board for some specific plans of expenditure, has received the 
consideration of a Committee of their number, and of the Board at its last meet- 
ing. In their opinion, the sum is too small, even with such local and individual 
subscriptions, as could now be raised, to authorize the establishment of a tho- 
roughly organized Normal School. If this sum, therefore, had been placed at 
their disposal, they would have expended it in the different counties of the 
state, under such circumstances as would have called forth as widely extended 
co-operation and contributions from towns and individuals as possible, and have 
diffused its agency over a period of three years." 

The Secretary, in his Report to the Board, in 1840, discusses the whole 
subject in the following manner : 

" The most efficient instrumentality, however, on which we can rely for the 
permanent and almost indefinite improvement of education in our common 
schools, is the employment of teachers properly qualified for their duties. The 
want of such teachers is widely felt, and the absence of all arrangements for 
securing the necessary supply, is the principal defect in our system. 

What can be done to remove this defect 1 Upon the practical solution of 
this problem depends the immediate and permanent prosperity of our schools. 

1. The first and necessarily imperfect method of securing well-qualified 
teachers, would be to raise the standard of qualification now required by law, 
and to create a county or senatorial district board for the examination of teach- 
ers. This would operate to induce candidates to prepare themselves more 
extensively and thoroughly in the studies which they are to teach, and on 
which they are to be examined, and would exclude in a great measure the ope- 
ration of local, family, and personal influences, in granting or withholding the 
necessary certificates. There is, however, no sure test of ability and skill in 
instruction and government, but actual demonstration in the school-room. To 
secure this practical knowledge, other means than those of examination, how- 
ever strict and impartial, such as now exist in the State, must be provided. 

2. A second method would be to improve the present sources relied on for 
supporting teachers. These sources are the common schools, and the higher 
seminaries of education. Both might be made far more efficient than they now 
are in this respect, by engrafting upon them a class or department for the edu- 
cation of teachers. 

From the older and more advanced scholars of either sex of the district 
schools, or the high school if it exists, such as have distinguished themselves by 
their scholarship and good conduct, and manifest the requisite talents, as well 
as desire to become teachers, might be selected to receive, in. the evening and 
at such other times as might be found convenient, specific instruction in the 
theory and practice of teaching. These might be allowed to assist in their 
respective schools under the direction of the teacher, with great profit to them- 
selves, and to the younger classes especially. They would thus have an oppor- 
tunity of applying their instructions to practice, they would not be educated 
above their business, and would acquire the habits and methods of teaching in 
the very class of schools which they would afterward be called upon to 
instruct. If school societies understood their own interest, they would estab- 
lish a common school of a higher order, if for no other purpose than to provide 
a home supply of better teachers for their respective districts. In Holland 
this method was formerly the sole resort for the training of teachers, but in per- 
fecting her system of primary instruction, regularly organized Normal Schools 
have been lately established. In the public schools of the city of New York, 
this plan is thoroughly organized and carried out. In Boston and Philadelphia, 
a model school is connected with it. 

Academies and similar institutions can become more useful than they now 
are in supplying good teachers^ — 

First, by instituting a ' teachers' class' in the winter and spring, for young 
ladies, and in the summer and autumn for young men, who have been teach- 
ers, or expect to become such soon. Here they should have an opportunity to 



NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. { 7 

revise the studies of the district school, and receive such knowledge of the best 
methods and familiar practical illustrations as the principal and other friends 
of education can give during the period allotted to the course. An experiment 
of this kind was tried at Hartford, in the Grammar School, with a class of 
twenty-six young men, and in the Female Seminary with a class of sixteen 
yoong ladies, with the most gratifying results. 

Second, by organizing a department for the more liberal and thorough edu- 
cation of teachers. Such a department should include a professor, who should 
devote his whole time to the theory and practice of education, a course of 
instruction embracing all the studies of the common schools, with the best 
methods of communicating them to others, and a model school. The model 
school might be a primary department of the academy, under an appropriate 
assistant, or the neighboring district school, in which, under the supervision of 
the professor, the best methods should be pursued. The students of the depart- 
ment should have an opportunity, not only of witnessing frequently and famil- 
iarly the exercises and management of this school, but should receive expla- 
nations and lectures there, as to the modes pursued, be allowed to conduct the 
recitations, and on return to the class-room, be required to give their views, in 
writing and orally, on what they had seen or heard. 

In giving the above outline of a properly organized 'Teachers' Department,' 
I have in reality incorporated the Normal School with the Academy. The 
advantages of this arrangement are the saving of much additional expense for 
buildings, apparatus, and assistants, and the liberalizing influence of associa- 
tion in the recitation-room, and out of it, with persons destined to other pursuits, 
on the mind and manners of those who are to become teachers. The disadvan- 
tages are, in the present comparatively low social and literary position, accord- 
ed to the profession, in public estimation, lest the department and those con- 
nected with it, should be regarded as only an appendage to the Academy ; and 
those destined for a longer or shorter time to become teachers, lose that enthu- 
siasm to the proposed calling, which is essential to eminent success, and ac- 
quire, what under the most favorable circumstances is likely to come soon 
enough, a partiality for those pursuits, which they see command a higher social 
rank, more honorable fame, and a richer pecuniary return. What is now 
wanted in this Slate, and in the country, are institutions in which the exclu- 
sive attention of men of the first talents and experience in education, should 
be devoted to the distinct object of giving the greatest practical elevation and 
efficiency to the profession of common school teacher, and where all the ar- 
rangements, to the minutest detail, should be shaped to establish this great end. 
This want can be in no way so effectually supplied as by the establishment of, 
at least, one thoroughly organized Normal School." 

The Board, in the Third Annual Report for 1841, again recommend : 

That some provision be made for the establishment of Normal Schools, or 
Seminaries for the training of teachers, where a practical knowledge of the 
best methods of arranging the classes and studies, and conducting the govern- 
ment and instruction of district schools, can be communicated and illustrated. 
One such school, under an experienced principal and assistant, with a model 
school connected with it, where theory can be carried into practice, and an 
example given of what a district school ought to be, would draw to it numbers 
of our young men, and young women, to improve the qualifications they already 
possess for teaching, and gain the experience and skill which are necessary. 

An appropriation for this object will supply a radical defect in our system, 
and give an impulse of the most powerful and salutary character to the cause 
of school improvement." 

Again, in his Third Annual Report, the Secretary of the Board returns 

to the subject, dwelling more particularly on the establishment of one 

Normal School: 

"But the most effectual way of improving the qualifications of teachers, of 
creating in them, and in the community, a proper estimate of the true dignity 
and usefulness of the office, of carrying out into practice the soundest views of 
education, is to establish at least one institution for their specific training. 

Such an institution, in the outset at least, had better be confined to the pre- 

. B 



18 NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. 

paration of female teachers. The course of instruction should have special 
reference to common schools in the country. The model school should, as far 
as practicable, bear a close resemblance in its elements to an ordinary district 
school. The pupils should be such as are willing to meet a portion of the 
expense of residence at the institution, by the assistance they would render at 
such times as would not interfere with the studies and exercises of the place. 

The whole spirit of the institution should be such as to invite those only to 
come, who have a natural fondness for the office of teaching, and are animated 
in their preparatory work, by higher motives than the hope of pecuniary 
returns they are likely to receive. 

The establishment of one or more schools of this description, is recommend- 
ed in nearly every communication from school visitors. They have been 
objected to. in four instances, for the following reasons. ' They are of foreign 
origin.' They need not necessarily be modeled, and indeed ought not to be, 
after foreign institutions. They should be adapted to meet our own wants, to 
raise up Connecticut teachers for Connecticut schools. The objection is as 
valid against institutions for the deaf and dumb, or the blind, or the insane, or 
colleges, or even the common school, which is only an improvement on the 
parochial schools of Germany. 

' They are unnecessary : our colleges, academies and private schools, can 
furnish teachers for the higher order of common schools, and these last for the 
district school.' It is possible that much might be done in this way. but at 
present, there are no adequate means provided in any of the institutions for the 
specific training, or the apprenticeship required. We have good teachers, but 
they have become such, by improving their native tact by experience in the 
school- room : but who knows how many minds and hearts have been ruined 
or injured by the experiments of beginners 1 The best teachers universally, 
acknowledge the value and necessity of such schools. 

' Those who are educated there, will not become teachers for life, or teachers 
in common schools.' They will, however, be more likely to make teaching a 
profession, than any other class. It would answer a good purpose, even if they 
taught for a few years. To provide against the last result, the institution should 
be confined to females, and those who receive its benefits, should come under 
obligations to teach two or three years in common schools ; but above all, they 
should be such only as are actuated by the highest devotional feelings. 

' The teachers thus educated, will be few compared with the number of 
schools.' But a beginning must be made, and in the present state of the public 
mind, and of the public schools, a single demonstration of what can be done, 
and of the best manner of doing it, is needed. The good which a few teachers 
properly trained, would do, would not be confined to the districts in which they 
labored. Their schools would become model schools for other districts, and 
the awakening influence of their example and precept would be felt all around 
them. Teachers who have not enjoyed the advantages of such training, would 
strive to excel those who had, and thus a wholesome spirit of emulation would 
be provoked among teachers. 

' Districts Avill not pay wages sufficient to employ teachers who are thus pre- 
pared.' There are districts which pay liberally, and who look long and far to 
find good teachers. Such districts would go directly to such an institution for 
their teachers. Besides, an imp;-ovement in the qualifications of teachers, 
would to some extent increase the demand for them, and the demand would 
increase the compensation. 

' The time required for this preparation is more than most teachers can 
give.' Although it would be desirable to extend the course of instruction to 
two years at least, still much can be accomplished in a brief period. Six 
months' residence in such an institution, with daily practice or observation in 
the model school, or even a shorter period, vv^ould be of incalculable service. 

' The expense of such an institution will be great.' Like other good insti- 
tutions, it will cost something, but the cost will depend somewhat on the scale 
with which it is commenced. An appropriation of $10,000 on the part of the 
State, united with what could be raised by individual subscriptions, would be 
sufficient to make a fair trial." 

In 1844, a Committee of eight members, one from each county, was 

appointed by the General Assembly, to take into consideration the state 



NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. J 9 

of Common Schools in Connecticut, and report on the subject to the next 
session, with plans and suggestions for their improvement. This Com- 
mittee, in their Report of May, 1845, which was printed and widely circu- 
lated, remark, that true economy, as well as the higher inducement of the 
best interests of the State, in the improved education of its children, 
would be promoted by the establishment of a Normal School. 

" There is one other improvement which your Committee deem of great im- 
portance, but which they do not think the present state of the public mind 
would justify, Yiz—the establishment of a Normal School or Teachers' Seminary. 

Teaching is an art, subject to certain rules and principles like any other art. 
It is true, that individuals may attain some degree of skill in teaching, without 
having had regular and systematic instruction in the art; as some men do in 
the arts of the painter, the carpenter, or the smith, without having served a regu- 
lar apprenticeship. It is true, too, that every one gets some idea of teaching while 
he is himself obtaining the rudiments of knowledge. But who would intrust 
an important work in building, machinery, or painting, or send a son to serve 
an apprenticeship, with an artisan who had not been regidarly taught his pro- 
fession, unless indeed he were satisfied that by long study and experience, he 
had fully made up for the deficiency in his early education. 

How much more, then, should we hesitate to coinmit the education of our 
children to unskillful hands — to those who have barely sufficient attainments to 
entitle them to the certificate required by law, without having had the slightest 
instruction, or experience, in the art of teaching, and who even acquired the 
rudiments of knowledge from those who were themselves exceedingly deficient 
both in art and learning. 

By far the greater part of our teachers, when they begin to instruct, are of 
this character. Many never teach but a single season. Others, who continue 
in the profession, change their school, season after season, giving no satisfac- 
tion to their employers, and deriving none themselves from their pursuit. A 
few only become successful teachers, and these soon find their way, as has 
before been said, into such common schools as duly appreciate their talents, or 
are employed in private schools' and academies. 

It is said by experienced teachers, that every child in the State might obtain, 
at twelve years of age, under proper instruction in the common schools, a good 
practicalknowledge in all the branches required by law to be taught in those 
schools. How different is the fact now ! 

Your Committee are of the opinion that trv£ economy, as well as the higher 
inducement of the best interests of the state, in the improved education of its 
children, would be promoted by the establishment of a Normal School. The 
annual expense of a school adapted to this state, would probably be about 
$4,000, or 5 cents a year for each child in the state. The public, however, 
have at present but little information on the subject. There can be no doubt, 
that sooner or later, these institutions will be deemed an indispensable part of 
every common school system." 

In 1846, the General Assembly, by a concurrent vote, approved "in the 
main," of a plan, submitted by the Joint Standing Committee on Educa- 
tion, for the improvement of the school system, which embraced among oth- 
er features, the establishment of a Normal School. This plan, with the 
Report of the Committee, was ordered to be printed, and two thousand 
copies circulated with the laws relating to common schools. The atten- 
tion of the school visitors in every school society, was specially called to 
the subject by the Superintendent, with a request that they would com- 
municate their views to this department on its various features. In 
almost every instance the Normal School feature of the plan was approv- 
ed, and most heartily in those societies where the schools were in the 
best condition, and the subject had received the most attention. In hia 



20 NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. 

Report to the General Assembly in May, 1847, the Superintendent sub- 
mitted the results of his reflections on the subject as follows : 

" The most important improvement recommended by the Committee, is the 
establishment of a Normal School, or Seviinartj for the instrioction of teachers, or 
the training of the yovmg men and young women of the state, who have the 
requisite qualifications of talent, tact, and character, to a practical knowledge 
of the best methods of school instruction and government. This subject has 
long been before the people of this state. The first distinct presentation of its 
claims, and one of the ablest ever made, was given by the Rev. T. H. Gallau- 
det, of Hartford, in a series of articles in the Connecticut Observer, commenc- 
ed in January, 1825, and afterward published in a pamphlet. This pam- 
phlet has been republished entire, or in copious extracts, in most of the educa- 
tional periodicals of the country, and has undoubtedly aided in preparing the 
public mind for the action which has already followed in several states, and 
which is likely to take place still more generally. From the communications 
received from school visitors on this point, both for this and the last year, it 
will be seen that the friends of school improvement, from every section of the 
state, are calling for some legislative action on this subject. 

The plan of a Normal School or Teachers' Seminary, embraces a thorough 
course of instruction in the studies pursued in common schools under compe- 
tent teachers, with reference to teaching the same things to others. This last 
includes the art of teaching, or a knowledge of human nature and of the human 
mind, and of the order in which its several faculties should be called into exer- 
cise ; of the best motives by which good habits of study can be cultivated in 
the young ; of the arrangement and classification of scholars, and of the best 
means and appliances for securing obedience and order, and for keeping alive 
an interest in the daily exercises of the school. To accomplish these things 
thoroughly, there must be all the necessary apparatus for illustration and ex- 
periment in reference to the studies pursued, and a model school where the^ 
future teacher may, as it were, serve an apprenticeship in the workshop of 
education. The Normal School shoitld do for the teacher what the directions 
of the master- workman, and the usual term and duties of the apprenticeship do 
for the future mechanic; and the law school, or the medical school, or the 
theological semhiary, does for the professions of law, medicine or theology. It 
should give a thoroug?i knowledge of what is to be done, and the practical skill 
how to do it. We have teachers who have acquired this knowledge and skill, 
but in too many instances they have acquired the same by experience and ex- 
periments in the school-room, at the expense of time lost, tempers ruined, and 
minds distorted, of the children of the state. The Normal School affords an 
opportunity to such persons as have the requisite natural qualifications, of 
acquiring the knowledge and experience necessary for the highest success, 
without subjecting the schools to the ruinous waste of time and mind to which 
they are now exposed. 

This subject has already attracted the attention of the Legislatures of other 
states, and it will not probably be long before a large number of our sister states 
will enjoy the benefits of these institutions. Surely Connecticut, which was 
the first seriously to agitate the subject, ought not to be the last to avail her- 
self of the wise suggestions of her own citizens, and the experience of two such 
states as New York and Massachusetts. If the Legislature would pledge the 
means to sustain the annual expense of one such school, on an economical 
scale, for a period long enough to give the institution a fair trial, it is believed 
that there are towns in which it should be located, and individuals, ready to pro- 
vide the necessary buildings, furniture and apparatus." 

This document was referred to the Joint Standing Committee on 
Education, who in their remarks on " the establishment of schools, where 
teaching as an art shall be taught," say, " From these returns, your 
Committee have been led to suppose that the time has come for the State 
to do something for the establishment of such seminaries." 

The Committee deemed it best for the Legislature to proceed with 
caution in the matter, and therefore, after recommending provision for 



NORMAL SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT. 21 

temporary Normal Schools, or Teachers' Institutes, proposed the appoint- 
ment of a Committee, " to make due examination, and report to the next 
Legislature a definite plan for the support, location, and internal arrange- 
ment of one or more schools for teachers," This Committee was accor- 
dingly appointed, and after visiting the Normal Schools in New York and 
Massachusetts, submitted a Report to the Legislature, in which they in 
1848, recommend an appropriation of $2,500 a year for four years, toward 
the support of a Normal School, to be located by a Board of Trustees, con- 
sisting of eight members, one for each county, to be chosen by the Gen- 
eral Assembly. The Committee state that liberal offers were received 
from several towns, which guarantee that tlie State shall be at no expense 
for buildings, &c. The plan of the Committee was embodied in a Bill 
which passed the House of Representatives by a large majority, and 
was lost in the Senate by one vote. The Committee in their Report 
remark : 

" That in the course of their examination, whatever doubts any of them had 
previously entertained with regard to the utiUty of such schools, and the expe- 
diency of establishing them, those doubts have been entirely removed ; — such 
schools are no longer to be regarded as a doubtful experiment:" 

The Superintendent, in his Report for 1849, after enumerating the va- 
rious instances in which the establishment of Normal Schools has been 
presented to the Legislature, adds : 

" Such is a brief history of the manner in which the special training of 
teachers for their work, has been brought before the Legislature and the 
people of the state. To this it may be added, that many essays on the 
eubject have been published in the public prints and in pamphlet form, 
and that in the course of the last six years it has been distinctly present- 
ed in the written reports of the school visitors of more than half of the 
school societies of the state. It would be an insult to the common inteUi- 
gence of the people of the state to suppose that the subject was not un- 
derstood. And as no considerable opposition has been manifested, it may 
fairly be presumed that they are prepared for some action on the subject." 

And such was the opinion of the General Assembly in 1849, as will ap- 
pear by the documents which follow. To the Report of the Superin- 
tendent for 1849, was appended a Plan of a Teachers' Seminary by 
Rev. Merrill Richardson, of Terryville, who in an address delivered be- 
fore the School Society of Plymouth, in 1842, and in the Connecticut 
School Manual, from 1846 to 1848, and in addresses delivered before the 
Teachers' Institutes, and in other ways by lip and pen, proved himself an 
earnest and efficient advocate before the people, of a Normal School or 
Teachers' Seminary. To this gentleman, to the Hon. Seth P. Beers, to 
John P. Norton, Esq., of Farmington, to Hon. Lorin P. Waldo, of Tol- 
land, and particularly to James M. Bunce, Esq., of Hartford, are the 
friends of school improvement indebted for the estabhshment of a Normal 
School in Connecticut, in just ten years after the subject was first offi- 
cially brought before the Legislature. 



LEGISLATION OF CONNECTICUT 

RESPECTING NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



An act for the establishment of a State Normal School. 

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in 
General Assembly convened, There shall be established, as hereinafter 
provided, one Normal School, or seminary for the training of teachers in 
the art of instructing and gov^erning the common schools of this state ; 
the object of which Normal School, or seminary, shall be, not to educate 
teachers in the studies now required by law, but to receive such as are 
found competent in these studies, in the manner hereinafter provided, and 
train them in the best methods of teaching and conducting common 
schools. 

Sec. 2. There shall be appointed, by the Legislature, eight trustees 
of said Normal School, one from each county in the state ; two of whom 
shall, in the first instance, hold their office for one year, two for two years, 
two for three years, and two for four years, the term of office to be by 
them determined, by lot or otherwise 5 the vacancies to be fified by ap- 
pointment by the Legislature, for the residue of the term which shall so 
become vacant; and the Superintendent of Common Schools, ex-officio, 
shall also be a member of said board. 

Sec. 3. The expenses necessarily incurred by said trustees, in the 
discharge of their duties, shall be defrayed out of the funds herein appro- 
priated for the support of said school ; and they shall receive no compen- 
sation for their services. 

Sec. 4. To said board of trustees shall be committed the location of 
said school; the application of the funds for the support thereof; the ap- 
pointment of teachers, and power of removing the same; the power to 
prescribe the studies and exercises of the school, rules for its management, 
and granting diplomas ; and they shall report annually to the Legisla- 
ture their own doings, and the progress and condition of the school, and 
the said trustees are hereby authorized to change the location of said 
Normal School, from time to time, as they deem best for the interest of 
said school, and for the accommodation of the pupils in the different parts 
of the state, provided suitable buildings and fixtures are furnished with- 
out expense to the state. 

Sec 5. The number of pupils shall not exceed' two hundred and 
twenty ; and the visitors of each school society in the state shall be re- 
quested to forward to the Superintendent of Common Schools, annually, 
the names of four persons, two of each sex, applicants for admission to 
said school, whom the said visitors shall certify they have examined and 
approved as possessed of the qualifications required of teachers of com- 
mon schools in this state ; which applicants shall have given to said visit- 
ors a written declaration, signed with their own hands, that their object 
in seeking admission to the school is to qualify themselves for the em- 
ployment of common school teachers ; and that it is their intention to 
engage in that employment in this state, which applicants the said visit- 
ors shall recommend to the trustees as suitable persons, by their age, 
character, talents and attainments, to be received as pupils in the Normal 
School. The trustees shall select by lot, from the whole number of apph- 
cants from each county, the proportion of pupils to which such county is en- 
titled by its population, of male and female, each an equal number : Provi- 



24 AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATION. 

ded, that not more than one shall be admitted from any school society, till 
each society, from which an application is made, shall have a pupil in the 
school. The trustees shall forward to each pupil, so appointed, a certifi- 
cate of his appointment, returning also to the principal a list of pupils ap- 
pointed to the school. If there shall not be a sufficient number of appli- 
cants from any county, to fill the number of appointments allowed to such 
county, the trustees sJiall fill the vacancy by lot from among the whole 
number of remaining applicants. To all pupils so admitted to the school, 
the tuition and all the privileges of the school shall be gratuitous. 

Sec. 6. The said trustees are authorized to make provisions for a 
Model Primary School, under a permanent teacher approved by them, in 
which the pupils of the Normal School shall have opportunity to practice 
the modes of instruction and discipline inculcated in the Normal School. 

Sec. 7. For the support of said Normal School, there is hereby appro- 
priated the bonus derived from the " State Bank," and the interest which 
may accrue thereon; from which the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, 
annually, for the term of four years, shall be paid to said trustees, with 
said interest, by order of the Comptroller, on the Treasurer of the State; 
no part of which sum shall be expended in any building or fixtures for 
said school. 

Approved, June 22d, 1849. 

Public Acts, May session, 1849. 



ExTRACTjfrom Section 1st of an Act incorporating the State Bank at 

Hartford. 
" Provided, That the President and Directors of said bank shall pay 
into the treasury of this state the sum of ten thousand dollars, as a bonus, 
which sum shall be appropriated to the support of a Normal School in 
this state, in such ways and at such place as shall be provided by the 
Legislature." 

Resolutions and Private Acts, May session, 1849. 



Extract from Section 12th of an Act incorporating the Deep River 

Bank. 
Provided, That before said bank shall commence discounting notes, 
the Directors of said bank shall pay to the treasurer of this state the sum 
of one thousand dollars for the purpose of sustaining a Normal School in 
this state." 

Resolutions and Private Acts, May session, 1849. 



" Resolved, That the Comptroller of Public Accounts be, and he hereby 
is directed to draw an order on the Treasurer of the State, payable to the 
trustees of the State Normal School, for the sum of one thousand dollars, 
heretofore deposited with said Treasurer, by the Deep River Bank, for 
the use of said School." 

Resolutions and Private Acts, May session, 1850. 



An act in alteration of " An Act concerning Education." 

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in 
General Assembly convened, The Principal of the State Normal School. 



AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATION. 25 

shall be, ex-officio, Superintendent of Common Schools, whose duty it 
'shall be to exercise a general supervision over the common schools or the 
state, to collect information from school visitors in the manner provided 
m the twenty-fifth section of the Act concerning Education, and from 
other sources, to prepare and submit an annual report to the General 
Assembly, containing a statement of the condition of the common schools 
of the state, plans and suggestions for the improvement and better organ- 
ization of the common school system, and all such matters relating to his 
office and to the interests of education as he shall deem expedient to com- 
municate. 

Sec. 2. That the Superintendent appointed by virtue hereof be, anc 
he is hereby authorized and directed to hold at one convenient place in 
each county of the state, in the months of September, October or Novem- 
ber annually, schools or conventions of teachers, for the purpose of in- 
structing in the best modes of governing and teaching our common 
schools, and to employ one suitable person to assist him at each of said 
schools. 

Sec. 3. That the compensation of the Superintendent shall be three 
dollars per day, in full for his services while actually employed in per- 
forming the duties required of him by law, and shall be allowed his neces- 
sary disbursements for traveling expenses, stationery, printing and clerk- 
hit;e, in the business of said office. And the person or ^persons by him 
employed in assisting at said school, shall be allowed not exceeding three 
dollars per day for the time occupied in traveling to and from, and attend- 
ing said school conventions; which compensation and disbursements shall 
be paid from the civil list funds of the state, after being taxed and allowed 
by the Comptroller, who shall draw an order on the State Treasurer 
therefor. 

Sec. 4. That the Superintendent of Common Schools be, and he is 
hereby directed to give seasonable notice to each school society of the 
times and places of holding said schools or conventionSj and such other 
notice to the teachers as he may deem expedient. 

Sec. 5. That so much of the tenth section of the Act concerning Edu- 
cation as constitutes the Commissioner of the School Fund, ex-officio, Su- 
perintendent of Common Schools, and the resolve, passed in 1848, provi- 
ding for employing persons to hold schools of teachers, and for holding 
the same, be, and the same are hereby repealed. Provided, that the 
Commissioner of the School Fund shall, ex-officio, remain Superintendent 
of Common Schools, exercising all the powers heretofore conferred on 
him, until the Principal of the State Normal School shall be appointed, 
and enter on the duties of said appointment. 

Approved, June 22d, 1849. 

Public Acts, May session, 1849. 



FIRST ANNUAL REPORT 

OP THE TRUSTEES OF THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL OF CONNECTICUT, 

SUBMITTED MAY 15tH, 1850. 



To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 

The Board of Trustees of the State Normal School, in conformity to a 
requisition of the act for the establishment of the same, respectfully pre- 
sent their first Annual Report. 

The Board, at its first meeting, on the 7th of August, after duly organ- 
:zing, resolved to issue a public notice, inviting proposals for the location 
of the school, either permanent, or otherwise, as the act provides. To this 
invitation but one town made a prompt response, and for a time the pro- 
jected institution seemed in danger of prospective defeat, from public 
apathy and indifference. After the lapse of some two or three months, 
the cause of this alarming silence was understood to proceed from the 
general impression which had gone abroad, that the institution was to be 
of a migratory nature, and pass from place to place, Avithout remaining 
long enough anywhere, to gain a residence, and make its acquisition 
desirable. No adequate inducement was offered to the people of any 
locality in the state, to make the necessary outlay, and offer the proposals 
Bohcited. 

To obviate this embarrassment, and induce the requisite proposals, the 
Board, at a subsequent meeting, in the exercise of the discretionary power 
vested in it, resolved, that, wherever located, the institution should be per- 
manently established during four years, at least, the period contemplated 
by the act. Soon after it was understood that such action had been taken 
by the Board, the cloud of uncertainty which had hung over the fate of 
the projected institution, disappeared, and liberal offers were made by 
several towns in the central part of the state, which will be further noticed 
in the sequel of this report. 

Another question of great moment, deeply involving the welfare of the 
institution, claimed and received the early attention of the Board, viz. who 
shall be its Principal 1 On the decision of this question, the Board felt 
that very much of the character and usefulness of the institution was de- 
pending ; and it received that careful attention and anxious deliberation, 
which its importance seemed to demand. After consultation with the 
friends of the enterprise, in different parts of the state, and thoroughly 
canvassing the merits of several candidates, whose names had been pre- 
sented, the Board came, unanimously, to the choice of the Hon. Henry 
Barnard, a gentleman well known in this state, by his former labors in the 
cause of popular education, as Secretary of the late Board of Education, 
and more recently Commissioner of Common Schools in the state of 
Rhode Island. His distinguished ability and zeal in the cause, couplea 
with his entire self-consecration, and large experience, constitute the 
surest guaranty of the successful discharge of the duties of the appoint- 
ment, and that no effort will be lacking on his part, to give to the institu- 
tion efficiency and utility. From the time when this appointment was 
conferred on Mr. Barnard, he has co-operated with the Board of which he 
is, ex officio, a member, in the preparatory labors of locating the school, 
and putting it in operation. 

Up to the time of the meeting of the Board on the 15th of January, 
proposals for the location of the school had been received from the city of 



28 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP THE TRUSTEES 

Middletown, and from the villages of Farmington, New Britain, and 
Southington. A Committee on Location was, thereupon, appointed, to 
visit each of these localities, and ascertain, from personal observation and 
inquiry", their comparative advantages. A full hearing was, subsequent- 
ly, given to the several applicants, in vindication of their respective claims 
to the location of the institution, and the spirit of competition elicited on 
the occasion was truly gratifying, inasmuch as it evinced a proper appre- 
ciation of the institution, on the part of those, at least, who were so lauda- 
bly zealous for its acquisition. Of all the several offers thus made to the 
state, it may justly be said, that they were liberal, and highly creditable 
to the parties by whom they were presented. No one of them was so 
clearly superior to the others, as to preclude all doubt relative to their 
comparative eligibility. But lest, after all, there should be some misun- 
derstanding between the parties and the Board, the following propositions 
were adopted by the latter, as the conditions on which the school should 
be established : 

" The Trustees will expect a building, or buildings, to be provided, suffi- 
ciently large to accommodate 220 pupils, with suitable rooms for recita- 
tions and lectures, furnished with the necessary fixtures, and on a site ac- 
ceptable to the Trustees. The plans and specifications thereof shall be 
furnished by the Principal of the School, and the building or buildings 
shall be acceptable to the Trustees. They will also expect such an ap- 
paratus to be furnished, as will be needed by the school, to the value of 
not less than one thousand dollars : and a library of books, chiefly on ed- 
ucation, to the value of not less than five hundred dollars. They will also 
require one school to be placed at their disposal, as a Model School, the 
teacher of which shall be approved by the Trustees, but paid by the Dis- 
trict. And, finally, while the Trustees will do all in their power to make 
the institution of such a character as shall reflect honor on the state, and 
be calculated to insure its perpetuity, yet, they wish it to be distinctly un- 
derstood, that they can not, in any way, bind the state to continue the 
school for a longer period than four years, from April 1st, 1850 ; and they 
can not accept of any proposals which shall imply, directly, or indirectly, 
any obligation, on the part of the state, to make any reimbursement, at 
the end of four years, if the school should be discontinued at that time. 

To the conditions thus set forth, the people of New Britain promptly 
and fully acceded, and raised, by private subscription, the sum of sixteen 
thousand dollars ; four thousand of which they propose to expend on their 
own schools of practice, to be connected with the Normal School, and the 
residue of twelve thousand dollars, they offer to the state for the purposes 
above specified. On the subsequent organization of the subscribers into 
a Joint Stock Company, they fixed the amount of their stock at twenty 
thousand dollars." 

While the Normal School edifice is in process of building, the present 
season, the Company have furnished and fitted up. for the temporary ac- 
commodation of the state, a spacious and commodious room in a public build- 
ing, located near the center of the village, in which the Board is pleased to 
be able to announce the opening of the State Normal School, this day, 
(May 15th,) with thirty pupils in attendance, under the immediate super- 
vision and instruction of Mr. T. D. P. Stone, as Associate Principal, a na- 
tive citizen of this state, but for many years a highly successful teacher 
in the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and for the last year 
the teacher of the Massachusetts State Reform School, located at West- 
borough. It may be proper to add, that Mr. Stone presented to the Board 
the most satisfactory credentials of excellence of character, and accom- 
plishments as a teacher ; and no doubt is entertained, but that he will 
magnify the office thus confidently conferred upon him, and so far, at least, 



OF THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 29 

as he is concerned, enable the friends of the institution to realize the fulfil- 
ment of their most sanguine hopes. 

Superadded to the commendable liberality thus exhibited by the people 
of New Britain, the Board was particularly gratified by the spirit of 
unanimity and cordiality which accompanied and crowned their donation ; 
and there can be no doubt, from the interest and enthusiasm already man- 
ifested on their part, that they will continue to foster and encourage an 
institution which they so highly and so justly appreciate, and which is so 
closely identified with the prosperity and reputation of their goodly vil- 
lage. The nascent germ, which they have so sedulously procured, and 
generously planted in their midst, will long receive their fostering care, 
and loving kindness, and, rising in growth and grandeur, is destined to be- 
come, not only the crowning ornament of the beautiful village in which it 
flourishes, but the ornament of the entire state. 

The Board take this occasion to inform the Legislature, that the bonus 
of the Deep River Bank, which, by the condition of its charter, was to be 
applied for the benefit of the State Normal School, has been appropriated 
and deposited for this object ; but no authority having been given to the 
Trustees, by the last Legislature, to receive the same, they would sug- 
gest that this inadvertency be remedied, by the passage of a resolution, 
authorizing the Board to receive the deposit, that it may be applied to its 
legitimate object. 

The Trustees would moreover inform the General Assembly of the 
occurrence of four vacancies in their Board, two of which arise from the 
expiration of the shortest term of service prescribed by the act instituting 
the same ; one for Fairfield, and the other for New London County ; the 
third, owing to the decease, in the early part of the year, of our lamented 
associate, Francis Bacon, Esq., occurs for Litchfield County; and the 
fourth has been made by the resignation of the Rev. J. D. Baldwin, he 
having removed from the county of Windham, for which he was appoint- 
ed ; all of which the Legislature will please to fill by the appointment of 
men who, in addition to their other qualifications, shall be especially pre- 
eminent for that high degree of patriotism, and devotion to the Repubhc, 
which shall secure their services to the state, icithout compensation^ 
agreeably to Section 3d of the act, which so plentifully provides, that 
the Trustees of the State Normal School " shall receive no compensation 
for their services." 

In conclusion, the Board would take occasion to express the sincere 
gratification which they derive from the auspicious indications which 
attend the infancy of the institution committed to their charge ; and with 
the harmonious and zealous co-operation of all concerned in its prosperity, 
they confidently anticipate for it a career of great usefulness and benefi- 
cence, in imparting increased efficiency to our system of public instruction, 
and in multiplying, augmenting, and diffusing the blessings of popular 
education. In behalf of the Board, 

FRANCIS GILLETTE, Chairman, 
New Britain, May 15th, 1850. 



EXTRACT 

PROM THE 

Fifth Annual Report of the Superintendent {Renry Barnard) of the Cowr 
mon Schools of Connecticut to the General Assembly, May session, 1850. 

After the lapse of a quarter of a century since the attention of the people 
of Connecticut was first called to the importance of providing for the spe- 
cial preparation of teachers of common schools for their arduous and re- 
sponsible labors, the Legislature in 1849 appropriated the sum of ten 
thousand dollars, paid by the State Bank, and of one thousand dollars 
paid by the Deep River Bank, as a bonus for their respective charters, to 
meet the annual expenses of a State Normal School, or Teachers' Sem- 
inary, for a period of four years. Apart from my official connection with 
the institution, I felt it to be my duty as Superintendent of Common 
Schools, to do every thing in my power, not only to make its objects 
known, but to facilitate its early organization and opening, as the most 
important agency which could be employed by the state to increase the 
usefulness of the common schools, both as to the quality and amount of 
education given. So anxious were the trustees and officers of the insti- 
tution to make a beginning of their enterprise, that without waiting for 
the complete outfit of buildings, apparatus and library, which the people 
of New Britain had pledged themselves to furnish on the location of the 
Normal School in that village, the school was opened on the 15th of the 
present month, (May,) under as favorable auspices, as to pupils and oppor- 
tunities for imparting practical knowledge, as any of the seven Normal 
Schools which are now in successful operation on this continent. At the 
close of the first week, there were thirty-five Normal pupils in attendance, 
under the immediate instruction of Rev. T. D. P. Stone, the Associate 
Principal of the School, and upward of three hundred pupils from the 
village, in four Schools of Practice, under the charge of Mr. Stone, assisted 
by Prof Guion, three female teachers and pupils of the Normal School. 
The four Schools of Practice are supported by the Central District of the 
New Britain School Society. 

In the absence of any published rules of the Board of Trustees, regu- 
lating permanently the number of sessions in the year, and the length ot 
each session, the subject and course of instruction, the period of attend- 
ance or degree of proficiency to entitle a pupil to the diploma of the insti- 
tution, I will venture to set forth the general plans and aims of the officers 
who have been entrusted with the immediate care of the institution, foi 
tlie purpose of making known its objects, and showing its probable influ- 
ence on our common schools. 

1. The officers of the Normal School believe that they could best pro- 
mote the permanent improvement of the common schools of the state, by 
truly educating, and thoroughly training a few efficient teachers of the 
right stamp of character, physical, intellectual, esthetical and moral, and 
then securing their permanent employment at fair remunerating wages, at 
central points in different sections of the state, as Normal teachers in 
model school-houses; or, by being allowed to select every year out of 
such candidates as may be presented by the visitors for the several school 
societies, a small number of pupils who possess the health, gentleness of 
manners, fondness for children, purity of character, singleness of purpose 
and tact, that indicate a natural fitness for teaching, and then, retain them 
long enough to superadd such appropriate knowledge of the studies to be 
taught, and practical skill in arranging the classes and conducting the in- 



MR. BARNARD'S REPORT. g J 

struction and discipline of an elementary school, under the ordinary con- 
ditions of an agricultural district. But as either of these courses are im- 
practicable under present circumstances, they will aim to benefit in such 
measure as they can, as many pupils as may apply for admission ; to co- 
operate every year in such ways as shall be open to them, with as many 
teachers of the state as they can meet for professional improvement, 
whether the same shall be pupils of the school or not ; to act by personal 
visits to the schools, and by public addresses, on as many societies and 
districts as their engagements ar the Normal School will admit ; and to pre- 
pare the public mind of the state generally, by precept and example, by 
voice and pen, as far and fast as they can, for more thorough and pro- 
gressive steps of improvement in every department of the educational field. 

2. The benefit of the Normal School to any pupil will be measured by 
the preparation each may bring in character, attainments and aptitude 
for the business, and the time and industry which may be devoted to the 
work. The officers of the school cannot encourage for a moment, the idea 
that a person who does not understand a subject thoroughly, can ever 
teach that subject well, or that a residence of a few weeks or months in 
the institution, however diligently and wisely employed, will be sufficient 
to gain a knowledge of the human mind, and of a child's mind in particu- 
lar ; of the studies which it is desirable to have well taught in our common 
schools, and of the best methods of teaching the same ; of the motives 
which are to be appealed to to secure habits of study, order and obedi- 
ence ; and of all the technical and practical details of school keeping. 
They believe, however, that a person of quick observation, of some natu- 
ral aptitude for the business, and a clear intellect of the average power 
and cultivation, can, with ordinary diligence and devotion, obtain much 
additional information, and some practical experience, correct many old 
errors and appropriate many valuable hints, and above all catch the true 
professional spirit, by even one term's residence at the school. A single 
visit to a good school ; an hour's conversation with a good teacher ; the 
reading of a single chapter in Emerson's " Schoolmaster," or Page's 
" Theory and Practice of Teaching," may be not only a help, but the 
starting point of a new life to the young teacher. The officers of the 
Normal School will, therefore, welcome any teacher or candidate for 
teaching; to the institution under their charge, for a visit of an hour or a 
residence of years. 

3. By means of the regular classes in the Normal School and in the 
Schools of Practice, an opportunity will be offered to every member of the 
school to review thoroughly any one or all of the elementary studies re- 
quired to be taught in the common schools of the state, and to extend his 
attainments in any of these studies, and such kindred branches as will 
facilitate his success as a teacher in any grade of common schools. 

The reviews and recitations will be so conducted, as to methods and 
practical illustrations, as to make the studies far more interesting and 
profitable than they now are, whether regarded in the way of informa- 
tion, or as means of intellectual discipline, preparatory to those labors and 
duties of life which are most important and universal. A knowledge of 
tlie elements and structure of the English language, is justly deemed of 
paramount importance, and it is proposed so to teach it, as to give to every 
child who shall attend a common school with ordinary regularity and dil- 
igence, not only the ability to spell and read with accuracy and facility, 
but to converse and compose in it with a good degree of readiness and 
power, and at the same time acquire an earnest and discriminating taste 
for the choicest productions of American and English literature. Pen- 
manship is now taught in every district school, and it is proposed to con- 
nect the exercises in this branch not only with constant practice in Eng- 
lish composition, with book-keeping and other forms of business, but also 



22 MR- BARNARD S REPORT. 

with the art of drawing, thus educating to a higher degree than mere 
writing can do, both ilae eye and tlie hand, rendering the one observant, 
and the other exact, and at the same time, training several important 
faculties of the mind, and imparting a power which can be turned to 
many useful purposes in every department of practical life. 

In addition to the studies now generally taught in our schools, it is pro- 
posed to give some practical instruction in vocal music and physiology ; 
and to those, whose previous training, or whose residence at the institu- 
tion will be long enough to allow of this extension of the course without 
abridging the time and attention which are due to the elementary studies, 
a general view of the principles of agricultural chemistry and of domestic 
economy, will be pi-esented. 

4. Subjects will be taught in the Normal School rather than text 
books ; and the manner in which the same subject is treated by several 
of the best authors, will be compared and discussed, in order that the grad- 
uates may be prepared to decide on the comparative merits of school 
books, whenever a change of text books is desirable in a school, and at 
the same time be able to teaeh the subjects properly, even if pupils of the 
same class should study the subject in different books. 

5. The elementary studies will be thoroughly reviewed with constant 
practice on the blackboard, and by the aid of such maps, and cheap and 
simple apparatus as are now furnished in our best class of common schools, 
and are indispensable in all schools, not only that these studies may be 
more vividly apprehended, but that the teachers may be prepared to use 
means of practical and visible illustration whenever the same shall be 
furnished. For the want of knowledge of many useful applications of the 
blackboard in all of the elementary studies, even the blackboard is but 
little used at the present time by the teachers of our district schools. 

6. In addition to familiar and practical suggestions on particular points 
in the organization, instruction and discipline of schools, as occasion may 

■■ the same in the daily routine of the institution, lectures will be 
gix'cii on the history of education and schools ; on the object and princi- 
ples of public instruction in general, and of our own system in particular ; 
on the art of teaching and its methods, and the application of these meth- 
ods to each particular study ; on the theory of discipline and its practice ; 
on the peculiarities of a district school, as well as of other grades of 
schools ; on the general principles of school architecture ; on tlie legal 
position and relations of a teaclier in our system of common schools ; and 
a variety of other topics which need not be enumerated in this place. 
[ Topics for Discussion.'] 

These topics will be examined by the pupils in the light of their own 
previous experience and observation, will be tested by contrast and com- 
parison with the matter and manner of instruction and discipline in the 
institution, and its associated schools of practice, will be further investi- 
gated in the books on the history of education and schools, and the theory 
and practice of teaching in the library, and will be made the themes of 
oral discussion and written essays which will constitute a part of the regu- 
jir routine of the Normal School. 

7. The various principles which come under the general department o' 
the theory and practice of teaching, will not only be exemplified as far as 
practicable in the management, instruction and disciphne of the Normal 
Schools and the Schools of Practice, but an opportunity will be afforded 
to the pupils of the first, to apply the same in practice to such extent and 
in sucli manner as the previous education of each shall render expedient 
and desirable. To give the most thorough familiarity with the theory 
and practice of organizing and conducting common schools, and at the 
same time to enable a few at least of each class to continue their connec- 
tion with the school, a certain number will be employed as assistant teach- 



MR. BARNARD'S REPORT. 33 

ers in the schools of the village, and, as far as practicable, of the neigh- 
boring districts. Opportunity will be given to such pupils to spend a por- 
tion of the vacations in visiting the best schools in different parts of the 
state, and in attending educational meetings of various kinds which may- 
be appointed by the Superintendent of Common Schools. The pupils 
thus employed will embody in written reports ihe results of their observ- 
ation and experience, which will be subject to the examination and criti- 
cism of the officers of the institution. 

8. To cultivate a truly religious feeling, to lay the foundation and im- 
plant the motives for a truly rehgious life, to enable the teachers by pre- 
cept and example rightly to develop the moral faculties, and to define and 
enforce the performance of all the great primary moral duties, in the 
schools which may be placed under their charge, will be one of the car- 
dinal objects of the Normal School. Every suitable effort, consistent with 
perfect religious toleration, will be made, to give a deep moral and reli- 
gious tone to all the exercises, and to the whole character of the institu- 
tion, from a deep conviction that a sense of responsibility to God, and of 
love to man, must form the main-spring of a teacher's activity, while it is 
the surest pledge of success. 

9. Occasional lectures on important topics of education, or even courses 
of lectures on subjects of intrinsic value, and which reflect light on the 
studies, labors and duties of the teacher's calhng, will be secured from 
time to time from persons who have given to these subjects special pre- 
paration. In this way it is anticipated that the pupils will have the ben- 
efit of the counsel, experience and study of many wise and distinguished 
teachers and educators from this and other states. 

10. No efforts will be spared, by correspondence and personal applica- 
tion, to assist the Normal pupils in obtaining permanent situations as teach- 
ers, according to the qualifications of each, and to promote their advance- 
ment from a school of a lower grade and compensation, to one of a more 
desirable character in both respects. Any aid which can be given to the 
graduates of the school by advice and cooperation, in their several fields 
of labor, will be cheerfully extended. An opportunity will be afforded to 
such as may wish to return to the institution for a short period to perfect 
or practice themselves in particular departments of instruction, in which 
on trial they may find themselves deficient. An anniversary meeting, or 
reunion of all the members of the school, will be encouraged at least once 
in a year. The State Teachers' Association will be invited to hold at 
least one meeting every year within the walls of the institution, where 
every facility at the command of its officers will be extended to make the 
teachers of the state welcome, and their session profitable and interesting. 
Every thing will be done by the officers of the school, which a strong de- 
sire can suggest, and unwearied efforts accomplish, to make the school 
worthy of the kind feeling and prompt cooperation of all who are, and of 
all who propose to become teachers in any grade of public or private 
schools in the state, to grapple as with bands of steel, and yet only by the 
sympathy of a common pursuit and the sense of reciprocal benefit, the 
pupils to the school, and the teachers of the state to each other, and to 
unite all hearts and all hands in the great work of the more complete, 
practical and universal education of the children of Connecticut. 

11. To make the objects of the Normal School generally known, to in- 
terest young persons of the right character and views in the business of 
teaching, and induce them to connect themselves with the institution tor 
a sufficient length of time to obtain the full benefits of a methodical course 
of theoretical and practical instruction, to cooperate with such pupils as 
may go out from the Normal School to teach in different parts of the 
state, to visit schools of different grades in large and small, in village and 
coumry districts, for the purpose of ascertaining their condition, suggest- 

G 



34 MK. BARNARD'S REPORT. 

ing improvements, and adapting the instruction of the Normal School to 
the real deficiencies of elementary education, to establish pleasant social 
and professional relations with teachers, school officers and parents, it is 
the intention of the officers of the institution to attend Institutes, Teach- 
ers' Associations, and common school meetings of every name, to which 
they may be invited, or where they have reason to suppose their presence 
and cooperation will prove acceptable. It is believed, that in the course 
of the Ibur years for which the enterprise is now planned, every school 
society, and a large majority of the sixteen hundred and fifty districts, 
will be visited by one or more of the teachers of the Normal School. 

This department of labor is as necessary to the success of the enter- 
prise as the instructions which may be given within the walls of the Nor- 
mal School. 

Among the results which will follow from the successful management 
Df the State Normal School for a period of four years, now provided for 
by law, may be specified the following. 

1. It will make an institution or institutions of this character, in some 
foi'm, an indispensable feature of our common school system. This has 
been the uniform result in every country and every state where the ex- 
periment has been tried under favorable auspices. There is not on record 
a single instance of the abandonment of this agency for providing good 
teachers for public schools, whenever it has been tried under liberal legis- 
lative or governmental patronage. There are more than two hundred 
such schools now in successful operation in this country and in Europe, 
and every year is adding to the number. 

2. It will thus supply the want which has long been known to exist by 
those who have given most attention to the improvement of common 
schools, of a place where young men and young women of the requisite 
natural qualifications, can acquire the science and the art of teaching 
without a series of experiments which are annually made at the expense 
of the health, faculties, and affections of the children placed under their 
charge. It will do for the future teacher what the direction of the master 
workman and the usual term and duties of apprenticeship do for the future 
mechanic ; what the law school, and clerkship in the office of an older 
practitioner at the bar, do for the young lawyer ; what the medical school, 
the practice in the hospital, or dissecting room, or study in the office of 
the experienced physician, do for the medical student. It is applying to 
the business of teaching the same preparatory study and practice which 
the common judgment of the world demands of every other profession 
and art. In this case it is provided for by the state, because the state has 
found it to be a matter of interest and duty ; — of right in its strongest and 
best sense ; — to look after the education of children, and to contribute to- 
ward the wages of the teacher ; and to protect her own appropriations 
she should see that the teachers are properly qualified. 

X 3. It will help to make teaching a permanent employment. The more 
truly efficient a teacher becomes, the more thoroughly the habits of his 
mind and Hfe are moulded to his occupation, the more deeply his soul is 
imbued with the spirit of his profession, the less likely he is, and the less 
capable he becomes of changing his career, and the more he is fortified 
against the temptations to forsake it ; and the example and success of one 
such teacher will have a powerful influence in determining the choice of 
many others just starting in the profession. 

4. It will help to verify the vocation of the pupils to the profession for 
which they are preparing. The Normal School will be a very uncom- 
fortable place for any person whose heart is not in the work, and who 
losks upon teaching, not as a calling, a mission, but as a meaningless 
routine, a daily task, imposed by necessity, or taken up because nothing 
better offered, and to be thrown aside as soon as a more lucrative occupa- 



MR. BARNARD'S REPORT. 



35 



tion shall tufn up, or open. It will be soon ascertained who enters upon 
the prescribed round of observation and practice, of reading and discus- 
sion, of study and lectures, with che enthusiasm of persons in earnest and 
in love witli their business ; and only such will be encouraged to perse- 
vere, or will be recommended as teachers on leaving the school. 

5. While it is probable that much the largest number of teachers who 
become connected with the school will not remain long enough to experi- 
ence the full benefit of what is understood to be a course of Normal in- 
struction and training, stih it is believed a small number at least will, and 
the good which a few teachers properly trained will do, will not be con- 
fined to the districts in which they are employed. Their schools will be- 
come model schools for other districts, and the awakening influence of 
their example and labors will be felt all around them. Teachers who 
have not enjoyed the advantages of such training, will strive to excel 
those who have, and thus a wholesome spirit of emulation will spring up 
among the teachers of the same neighborhood. 

6. Through the direct and necessary influence of even a few good 
schools scattered all over the state ; of schools made good, and seen and 
felt and acknowledged to be made good, by teachers who have gone out 
from this institution with improved and improving views of the nature, 
objects and methods of teaching, and by the many other modes in which 
the officers and pupils of this school propose to act on the public mind, the 
standard of teachers' qualifications and wages will be gradually and per- 
manently raised. Good teachers will be in demand, and their services 
will command good wages. The contrast between a good teacher, and 
a poor one, will be seen and felt ; and then the great commercial law of 
demand and supply will begin to operate. The want of good teachers 
will be felt; and then will follow the corresponding demand. The de- 
mand will induce young men and young women so to quahfy themselves 
as to meet this want. And with a demand for and supply of the better 
article, the poor one will remain a drug in the market. The other obsta- 
cles which now remain in the way of the employment of good teachers 
will gradually and forever disappear. Old, dilapidated, inconvenient, and 
unhealthy school-houses will give place to new, attractive and comfort- 
able structures ; for districts having the first will find it difficult to secure 
the services of a good teacher, who will understand well the relations 
which a good house bears to his own health and his success both in gov- 
ernment and instruction. That relic of barbarism, the practice of " board- 
ing round," of compelling the teacher to live homeless and without the 
ordinary facilities and seclusion for study, ofbeing subjected to inconven- 
iencies to which the lawyer, or clergyman, or mechanic are not subjected 
by their employers, will no longer remain a hindrance to the formation of 
a permanent, well qualified body of professional teachers. 

7. It will do much in connection with Teachers' Institutes, Conventions, 
and Associations, to inspij-e and strengthen a professional feeling among 
teachers. All the advantages felt by those who prepare in common for 
other professions, or act in concert, — friendships, mutual encouragement 
and assistance in studies, discussions and comparisons of view, and the 
social position and influence which follow the association of large num- 
bers in the same pursuit, — will be experienced. There has been till within 
a few years but little of this professional spirit. Good teachers have 
grown up and remained isolated. Their experience has furnished them 
Avith excellent methods, a social position, and adequate pecuniary return. 
But their number has been small and their influence has been hardly felt 
beyond their own school-rooms, much less has it been made to give eleva- 
tion, character and amelioration to the profession generally. 

8. It will do something toward building up a professional literature 
which shall embody the experience, reflection, and discussions of our own 



3Q MR. BARNARD'S REPORT. 

teachers on the science and art of education as applied and -developed in 
our common schools. The practice of writing essays in the Normal 
School on educational topics ; of discussing the same subjects in public 
meetings of teachers and parents ; of making reports to the Principal on 
the state of the schools in which they may be engaged, or which they 
may visit, will lead to the establishment and support of an Educational 
Periodical for their own benefit. By means of such a periodical, an active 
spirit of inquiry will be awakened and kept alive ; improvements in each 
district will be announced and made the common property of the profes- 
sion; wrong ideas in education will be exposed and exploded ; and the sound 
practice of good teachers will be embodied in words and reduced to the 
precision of scientific principles. 

9. The officers of this institution expect to find in many of the mem- 
bers of the school a strong natural impulse to the study of education, and 
an enthusiastic attachment to their future profession, as the noblest, holi- 
est department of human exertion. Upon that class, be the same large 
or small, as they appear, do they rely for giving an impulse of a most 
powerful kind to educational improvement, and especially in fields for which 
the laborers are at present few. Whoever else may doubt, or falter or 
fail, these will not. Though called upon to labor in obscurity, they will 
toil on and find their happiness in their work. New difficulties will only 
nerve their hearts for sterner encounters. 

These anticipations of good to the teachers, the schools, and the state, 
may all be darkened, postponed and defeated. Public confidence, which 
must be the breath of life to this enterprise, may be withheld, or with- 
drawn through the influence of sectarian jealousy, sectional prejudice, 
or party spirit. All that the ofiicers of the Normal School can do, to 
avoid studiously all just occasions of offense, and to deserve the entire 
confidence of the people, the Legislature, and the teachers of the state, 
will be done. All they ask is a fair field, a reasonable amount of coope- 
ration from school teachers and school. officers, the charitable judgments 
of their fellow citizens, good health, and the blessing of God upon their 
labors. 



TOPICS 



DISCUSSION AND COMPOSITION ON THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF 
EDUCATION. 

1. The daily preparation which the teacher should bring to the school- 
room. 

2. The circumstances which make a teacher happy in school. 

3. The requisites of success in teaching. 

4. Causes of failure in teaching. 

5. The course to be pursued in organizing a school. 

6. The order of exercises or programme of recitations. 

7. The policy of promulgating a code of rules for the government of a 
school. 

8. The keeping of registers of attendance and progress. 

9. The duties of. the teacher to the parents of the children and to school- 
officers. 

10. The opening and closing exercises of a school. 

11. Moral and religious instruction and influence generally. 

12. The best use of the Bible or Testament in school. 

13. Modes of promoting a love of truth, honesty, benevolence, and other 
virtues among children. 

14. Modes of promoting obedience to parents, respectful demeanor to elders, 
and general submission to authority. 

15. Modes of securing cleanliness of person and neatness of dress, respect 
for the school-room, courtesy of tone and language to companions, and gentle- 
ness of manners. 

16. Modes of preserving the school-house and appurtenances from injury 
and defacement. 

17. Length and frequency of recess. 

IS. The games, and modes of exercise and recreation to be encouraged 
during the recess, and at intermission. 

19. Modes of preventing tardiness, and securing the regular attendance df 
children at school. 

20. Causes by which the health and constitution of children at school are 
impaired, and the best ways of counteracting the same. 

21. The government of a school generally. 

22. The use and abuse of corporal punishment. 

23. The establishment of the teacher's authority in the school. 

24. Manner of treating stubborn and refractory children, and the policy of 
dismissing the same from school. 

25. Prizes and rewards. 

26. The use and abuse of emulation. 

27. Modes of interesting and bringing forward dull, or backward scholars. 

28. Modes of preventing whispering, and communication between scholars 
in school. 

29. Manner of conducting recitations generally ; and how to prevent or de- 
tect imperfect lessons. 

30. Methods of teaching, with illustrations of each, viz : 

a. Monitorial. 

b. Individual. 

c. Simultaneous. 

d. Mixed. 

e. Interrogative. 
/. Explanative. 
g. Elliptical. 

A. Synthetical. 

i. Analytical. 
. 31. Modes of having all the children of a school (composed as most District 
schools are, of children of all ages, and in a great variety of studies,) at all 
times something to do, and a motive for doing it. 



38 TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION. 

32. Methods of teaching the several studies usually introduced into pubii« 
schools — such as — 

a. The use, and nature, and formation of numbers. 

h. Mental Arithmetic. 

fc. Written Arithmetic. 

A. Spelling. 

e. Reading. 

/. Grammar — including conversation, composition, analysis of sen- 
tences, parsing, &c. 

g. Geography — including map-drawing, use of outline maps, atlas, 
globes, 6z;c. 

A. Drawing — ^with special reference to the employment of young 
children, and as preliminary to penmanship. 

i. Penmanship. 

j. Vocal music. 

U. Physiology — so far at least as the health of children and teacher 
in the school-room is concerned. 

33. The apparatus and means of visible illustration, necessary for the 
schools of different grades. 

34. The development and cultivation of observation, attention, memory, 
association, conception, imagination, &c. 

35. Modes of inspiring scholars with enthusiasm in study, and cultivating 
habils of self-reliance. 

36. Modes of cultivating the power and habit of attention and study. 

37. Anecdotes of occurrences in the school, brought forward with a view to 
form right principles of moral training and intellectual development. 

38. Lessons, on real objects, and the practical pursuits of life. 

39. Topics and times for introducing oral instruction, and the use of lectures 
genera] Iv. 

40. Manner of imparting collateral and incidental knowledge. 

41. The formation of museums and collections of plants, minerals, &c. 

42. Exchange of specimens of penmanship, map and other drawings, mine- 
rals, plants, fee, between the different schools of a town, or of different towns. 

43. School examinations generally. 

44. How far committees should conduct the examination. 

45. Mode of conducting an examination by written questions and answers. 

46. School celebrations, and excursions of the school, or a portion of the 
scholars, to objects of interest in the neighborhood. 

47. Length and frequency of vacations. 

48. Books and periodicals on education, schools and school systems. 

49. Principles to be regarded in the construction of a school-house for schools 
of different grades. 

50. Principles on which text-books in the several elementary studies should 
be composed. 

51. The use of printed questions in text-books. 

52. The private studies of a teacher. 

53. The visiting of each other's schools. 

54. The peculiar difhculties and encouragements of each teacher, in respect 
to school-house, attendance, supply of books, apparatus, parental interest and 
co-operaiion, support by committees, &c., &c. 

55. The practicability of organizing an association of the mothers and 
females generally of a district or town, to visit schools, or of their doing so 
without any special organization. 

56. Plan for the oganization, course of instruction, and management gener- 
ally of a Teachers Institute. 

57. Advantages of an Association or Conference of the Teachers of a Town 
or State, and the best plan of organizing and conducting the same. ^ 

58. Plan of a Normal School or Seminary, for the training of Teachers for 
Common or Public Schools. 



REMARKS 

ON SEMINARIES FOR TEACHERS, 

BY KEV. THOMAS H. GALLAPDET. 



The following remarks originally appeared in the Connecticut Observer, 
published in Hartford, Conn., in a series of articles, with the signature of 
" A .Father." The first article was dated the 5th of January, 1825. 

J No important result can be attained with regard to the accomplishment 

of any object which affects the temporal or eternal well-being of our spe- 
cies, without enlisting an entire devotedness to it, of intelligence, zeal, fidelity, 
industry, integrity, and practical exertion. What is it, that has furnished us 
with able divines, lawyers, and physicians 1 The undivided consecration of 
the talents and efforts of intelligent and upright individuals to .these profes- 
sions. How have these talents been matured, and these efforts been trained, 
to their beneficial results ■? By a diligent course of -preparation, and a long 
discipline in the school of experience. We have our theological, law, and 
medical institutions, in which our young men are fitted for the pursuit of these 
respective professions, by deriving benefit from the various sources of infor- 
mation which libraries, lectures, and experiments afford. Unaided by such 
auxiliaries, genius, however brilliant ; invention, however prolific ; observa- 
tion, however acute ; ingenuity, however ready ; and perseverance, however 
indefatigable, have to grope their way, through a long and tiresome process, 
to the attainment of results which a little acquaintance with the labors of oth- 
ers in the same track of effort, would render a thousand times more easy, 
rapid, and delightful. Experience is the storehouse of knowledge- Now 
why should not this experience be resorted to as an auxiliary in the education 
of youth ? Why not make this department of human exertion, a profession, 
as well as those of divinity, law, and medicine T Why not have an Institu- 
tion for the training wp of Instructors for their sphere of labor, as well as 
institutions to prepare young men for the duties of the divine, the lawyer, or 
the physician 1 _j_ 

Can a subject of more interest present itself to the consideration of the 
public "! Does not the future improvement of our species, to which the phi- 
lanthropist and the Christian look forward with such delightful anticipation, 
depend on the plans which are adopted for the development and cultivation 
of the intellectual and moral powers of man 1 Must not these plans begin 
with infancy and childhood'? Do not the attainments of the pupil depend 
upon the talents, the fidelity, and the integrity of those by whom he is taught! 
How will he learn to think, to speak, to read, and to write with accuracy, 
unless his instructors are able to teach him ! Shall their ability depend upon 
their individual experience and attainments "? Are you satisfied with a divine, 
a lawyer, or a physician, who has qualified himself, or pretended to do so, for 
his profession, by solitary, unaided, unadvised, untaught, inexperienced 
efforts ■? You do not do this. Why not, then, require in the instructors of 
youth, to whom you commit the training up of your offspring, an adequate 
preparation for their most important and responsible employment ■? 

But this preparatory discipline is considered indispensable not merely for 
the learned professions, but for the ordinary occupations of life. A term of 
years is required to fulfil the duties of an apprenticeship to any of the me- 
chanical trades. An artisan does not venture to solicit the patronage of the 
public, till he has undergone this apprenticeship. This training under the 
instruction of experienced masters, is deemed of still more importance in 



40 MR. GALLAUDET, ON TEACHERS' SEMINARIES. 

what are termed the liberal arts, such as painting, sculpture, and engraving. 
To foster them, academies are formed ; models -are collected ; lectures are de- 
livered ; and the young novitiate is willing to devote years of patient and 
assiduous labor, to fit himself for success in his profession. We hear, too, of 
what is termed a regularly-bred merchant ; and the drilling of the counter 
and the counting-house is considered indispensable to prepare one for' all the 
complicated transactions of trade and commerce. And if men are to be train- 
ed to arms, academies are established, at which experience, ingenuity, and 
science are put in requisition, to qualify the young and inexperienced for mili- 
tary exploits. In fact, there is scarce any pursuit connected with the busi- 
ness of life, but what men have endeavored to render successful, by a process 
predicated on well-known principles of human nature ; — by making it, in the 
first place, a distinct profession or calling ; then, by yielding to those who 
have long been engaged in it the deference which their experience justly 
demands ; and finally, by compelling those who would wish to adopt it, to 
devote themselves to it, and to pass through all the preparatory steps which 
are necessary for the consummation of their acquaintance, both with its theory 
and practice- In this way only we hope to form good mechanics, painters, 
engravers, sculptors, farmers, merchants, physicians, and lawyers. 

Perhaps some of my illustrations may be considered of too humble a kind. 
But my subject is a very practical one, and I intend to treat it in a practical 
way. Permit me, then, to inquire of my readers, when they wish to get a 
shoe made, to whom they apply 1 Do they not take considerable pains to 
find a first-rate workman ; one who has learned his trade well, and who can 
execute his work in the best manner 1 And when our wives and daughters 
want a new bonnet, or a new dress, will they not make a great many inquiries, 
and take not a few steps, and consume no small portion of very valuable time, 
to ascertain the important fact, who is the most skillful and tasteful milliner 
and seamstress within their reach ; and are they not willing to undergo many 
inconveniences, and to wait till their patience is almost exhausted, and their 
wants very clamorous, in order to obtain the precious satisfaction of having 
the work done by hands whose skill and ingenuity have been long tested, and 
on whose experience and judgment in adjusting colors, and qualities, and pro- 
portions, and symmetry, and shape, they can safely rely"? 

Is a shoe, or a bonnet, to be put in competition with an immortal mind ? 

In your very articles of dress, to clothe a frail, perishable body, that is 
soon to become the prey of corruption, will you be so scrupulous in the choice 
of those whom you employ to make them ; and yet feel no solicitude in re- 
quiring of those to whom is intrusted the formation of the habits, and thoughts 
and feelings of a soul that is to live for ever, a preparation for their most 
responsible task ; an apprenticeship to their important calling ; a devotedness 
to a pursuit which involves all that can affect the tenderest sympathies of a 
kind parent, — the most ardent hopes of a true patriot, — the most expanded 
views of a sincere philanthropist, — the most benevolent wishes of a devout 
Christian 1 

I am told that the Patent-office at Washington is thronged with models of 
machines, intended to facilitate the various processes of mechanical labor ; 
and I read in our public prints, of the deep interest which is felt in any of 
those happy discoveries that are made to provide for the wants, and comforts, 
and luxuries of man, at an easier and a cheaper rate ; and I hear those eulo- 
gized as the benefactors of our race, whose genius invents, and whose patient 
application carries into effect any project for winnowing some sheaves of 
wheat a little quicker, or spinning some threads of cotton a little sooner, or 
propelling a boat a little faster, than has heretofore been done ; and, all this 
while, how comparatively few improvements are made in the process of edu- 
cating the youthful mind ; and in training it for usefulness in this life, and for 
happiness in the life to come ! 

Is human ingenuity and skill to be on the alert in almost every other field 
of enterprise but this ] How can we reconcile our apathy on this subject 
with the duties which we owe to our children, to our country, and to our 
God? 

Let the same provision, then, be made for giving success to this depart- 



MR. GALLAUDET, ON TEACHERS' SEMINARIES. 41 

ment of eiFort that is so liberally made for all others. Let an institution be 
established in every state, for the express purpose of training up young men 
for the profession of instructors of youth in the common branches of an Eng- 
lish education. Let it be so well endowed, by the liberality of the public, or 
of individuals, as to have two or three professors, men of talents and habits 
adapted to the pursuit, who should devote their lives to the object of the 
" Theory and Practice of the Education of Youth," and who should prepare 
and deliver, and print, a course of lectures on the subject. 

Let the institution be furnished with a library, which shall contain all the 
works, theoretical and practical, in all languages, that can be obtained on the 
subject of education, and also with all the apparatus that modern ingenuity 
has devised for this purpose ; such as maps, charts, globes, orreries, &c. 

Let there be connected with the institution, a school, smaller or larger, as 
circumstances might dictate, in which the theories of the professors might be 
reduced to practice, and from which daily experience would derive a thou- 
sand useful instructions. 

To such an Institution let young men resort who are ready to devote them- 
selves to the business of instructors of youth. Let them attend a regular 
course of lectures on the subject of education ; read the best works ; take 
their turns in the instruction of the experijnental school, and after thus 
becoming qualified for their office, leave the Institution with a suitable cer- 
tificate or diploma, recommending them to the confidence of the public. 

I have scarcely room to allude to the advantages which would result from 
such a plan. It would direct the attention, and concentrate the efforts, and 
inspire the zeal, of many worthy and intelligent minds to one imforlant ob- 
ject. They would excite each other in this new career of doing good. Eve- 
ry year would produce a valuable accession to the mass of experience that 
would be constantly accumulating at such a store-house of knowledge. The 
business of instructing youth would be reduced to a systein, which would 
embrace the best and the readiest mode of conducting it. This system 
would be gradually diffused throughout the community. Our instructors 
would rank, as they ought to do, among the most respectable professions. 
We should know to whom we intrusted the care and education of our off- 
spring. These instructors, corresponding, as they naturally would, with the 
Institution which they had left, and visiting it, at its annual, and my imagina- 
tion already portrays, delightful festivals, would impart to it, and to each 
other, the discoveries and improvements which they might individually make, 
in their separate spheres of employment. 

In addition to all this, what great advantages such an institution would 
afford, by the combined talents of its professors, its library, its experimental 
school, and perhaps by the endowment of two or three fellowships, for this 
very object, iox \}iv& formation of the best books to be employed in the early sta- 
ges of edueation ; a desideratum, which none but some intelligent mothers, 
and a few others who have devoted themselves to so humble, yet important 
an object, can duly appreciate. 

Such an Institution, too, would soon become the center of information on 
all topics connected with the education of youth ; and thus, the combined 
results of those individuals in domestic life, whose attention has been direct- 
ed to the subject, would be brought to a point, examined, weighed, matured, 
digested, systematized, promulgated, and carried into effect. 

Such an Institution ivould also tend to elevate the tone of -public sentiment, 
and to quicken the zeal of public effort loith regard to the correct intellectual 
and moral education of the rising generation. 

To accomplish any great object, the co-operation of numbers is necessary. 
This is emphatically true in our republican community. Individual influence, 
or wealth, is inadequate to the task. Monarchs, or nobles, may singly devise, 
and carry into effect, Herculean enterprises. I3ut we have no royal institu- 
tions ; ours must be of more gradual growth, and perhaps, too, may aspire to 
more generous and impartial beneficence, and attain to more settled and im- 
movable stability. Now to concentrate the attention, and interest, and exer- 
tions of the public on any important object, it must assume a definite and pal- 
pable form. It must have "a local habitation and name." For instance, 



42 MR. GALLAUDET, ON TEACHERS' SEMINARIES. 

you may, by statements of facts, and by eloquent appeals to the sympathies 
of others, excite a good deal of feeling with regard to the deaf and dumb, or 
to the insane. But so long as you fail to direct this good will in some par- 
ticular channel of practical effort, you only play round the hearts of those 
whom you wish to enlist in the cause. They will think, and feel, and talk, 
and hope that something will be done ; but that is all. But erect your Asy- 
lum for the deaf and dumb, and your Retreat for the insane. Bring these 
objects of your pity together. Let the public see them. Commence your 
plans of relief Show that something can be done, and how and ivhere it can 
be done, and you bring into aostion that sympathy and benevolence which 
would otherwise have been wasted in mere wishes, and hopes, and expecta- 
tions. Just so with regard to improvements in education. Establish an 
Institution, such as I have ventured to recommend, in every state. The 
public attention will be directed to it. Its Professors will have their friends 
and correspondents in various parts of the country, to whom they will, from 
time to time, communicate the results of their speculations and efforts, and 
to whom they will impart a portion of the enthusiasm which they themselves 
feel. Such an Institution, too, would soon become an object of laudable 
curiosity. Thousands would visit it. Its experimental school, if properly 
conducted, would form a most delightful and interesting spectacle. Its 
library and various apparatus would be, I may say, a novelty in this depart- 
ment of the philosophy of the human mind. It would probably, also, have 
its public examinations, which would draw together an assembly of intelli- 
gent and literary individuals. Its students, as they dispersed through the 
community, would carry with them the spirit of the Institution, and thus, by 
these various processes of communication, the whole mass of public senti- 
ment, and feeling, and effort, would be imbued with it. 

Another advantage resulting from such an Institution, would be, that it 
would lead to the investigation and establishment of those principles of disci- 
pline and government most likely to promote the progress of children and 
youth in the acquisition of intellectual and moral excellence- How sadly 
vague and unsettled are most of the plans in this important part of education, 
now in operation in our common schools. What is the regular and well- 
defined system of praise and blame ; of rewards and punishments ; of excit- 
ing competition or appealing to better feelings ; in short, of cultivating the 
moral and religious temper of the pupil, while his intellectual improvement 
is going on, which now pervades our schools 1 Even the gardener, whom 
you employ to deck your flower beds, and cultivate your vegetables, and rear 
your fruit trees, you expect to proceed upon some matured and well-under- 
stood plan of operation. On this subject I can hardly restrain my emotions. 
I am almost ready to exclaim, shame on those fathers and mothers, who 
inquire not at all, who almost seem to care not at all, with regard to the 
moral discipline that is pursued by instructors in cultivating the -temper and 
disposition of their children. On this subject, every thing depends on the 
character and habits of the instructor ; on the plans he lays down for him- 
self; on the modes by which he carries these plans into effect. Here, as in 
every thing else, system is of the highest importance. Nothing should be left 
to whim and caprice. What is to be this system! Who shall devise if? 
Prudence, sagacity, affection, firmness, and above all, expedience, should 
combine their skill and effort to produce it. At such an Institution as I have 
proposed, these requisites would be most likely to be found. Then might 
we hope to see the heart improved, while the mind expanded ; and knowl- 
edge, human and divine, putting forth its fruits, not by the mere dint of arbi- 
trary authority, but by the gentler persuasion of motives addressed to those 
moral principles of our nature, the cultivation of which reason and religion 
alike inculcate. 

It is feared by some that it will be impossible ever to produce a sufficient 
degree of public interest in such a 'project to carry it into effect. 

I am not so sanguine as to think, that the whole mass of the community 
can, at once, be electrified, as it were, by any appeals, however eloquent, or 
any efforts, however strenuous, into one deep and universal excitement on 
this or any other topic. Information must be gradually diffused ; the feelinga 



MR. GALLAUDET, ON TEACHERS' SEIVnNARIES. 43 

of influential men in various sections of the countiy must be enlisted ; able 
writers in our public prints and magazines must engage their hearts and their 
pens in the cause. 

In addition to all this, suppose that some intelligent and respectable indi- 
vidual, after having made himself master of the subject in all its bearings, 
and consulted vi^ith the wise and judicious within his reach, who might feel 
an interest in it, should prepare a course of lectures, and spend a season or 
two in delivering them in our most populous towns and cities. The novelty 
of this, if no other cause, would attract a great many hearers. Such an indi- 
vidual, too, in his excursions, would have the best opportunity of conferring 
with well-informed and influential men ; of gaining their views ; of learning 
the extent and weight of all the obstacles which such a project would have 
to encounter, and the best modes of removing them; and, if it should indeed 
appear deserving of patronage, of enlisting public sentiment and feeling in its 
favor. 

But after all, I do not deem it, at present, necessary for the commence- 
ment of the plan which I have proposed, that any thing like an universal 
public interest should be taken in it. 

If the experiment could, at first, be made upon a small scale ; if such an Insti- 
tution could be moderately endowed with funds sufficient to suppori one or 
two professors, and procure even the elements of a library, afterward to be 
enlarged as public or private bounty might permit ; if it could be established 
in some town large enough to furnish from its youthful population, pupils to 
form its experimental school; and if only a few young men, of talents and 
worth, could be induced to resort to it, with an intention of devoting them- 
selves to the business of instruction as a 'profession, — it would not, I think, 
be long before its practical utility would be demonstrated. The instructors, 
although few in number, who would, at first, leave the Institution, would 
probably be located in some of our larger towns. Their modes of instruction 
would be witnessed by numbers of the influential and intelligent, and, if suc- 
cessful, would soon create a demand for other instructors of similar qualifi- 
cations. And as soon as such a demand should be produced, other individu- 
als would be found willing to prepare themselves to meet it. And tbus we 
might hope that both private and public munificence, so bountifully bestowed, 
at the present day, on other useful objects, would eventually contribute a 
portion of its aid to an establishment designed to train up our youth more 
successfully to derive benefit from all the other efforts of benevolence, or 
institutions of literature and religion, which are so widely extending their 
influence through every part of our highly-favored country. 

Another obstacle, in the prosecution of such a plan, is the difficulty of indu- 
cing young men of character and talents to embark in it, and to devote them- 
selves to the business of instruction for life- 

I can not but hope that the time is not far distant, when the education of 
youth will assume, in the minds of intelligent and pious individuals, its proper 
place among the various other benevolent exertions which are made, through 
the aids of private and public bounty, for meliorating the temporal and eternal 
condition of man. In the mean while, can not a few young men, of talents and 
piety, be led to feel that the thousands of our rising generation, the hope of 
the church and the state, have strong claims upon their benevolence ; and 
that to concentrate their time and their eff'orts to such an enterprise, may be 
as much their duty as to engage in the missionary cause ! Missionaries 
make great sacrifices, and practice much self-denial, and endure weighty 
labors, without any prospect of temporal emolument, in order to train up hea- 
then youth for usefulness in this world, and for happiness in the next ; and 
can not those be found who will undergo some sacrifices, and self-denial, and 
labor, to bring about so great a good as a reformation in the instruction of 
those youth who are bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh? Only admit 
the importance of the object, (and who can deny if?) and it almost looks like 
an impeachment of their Christian sincerity, to suppose that among those 
hundreds of young men who are pressing forward into the ranks of charita- 
ble enterprise, none can be persuaded to enter upon a domestic field of labor, 
which promises so much for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. 



4^ MR. GALLAUDET, ON TEACHERS' SEMINARIES. 

No, only let the project be begun, let the way of usefulness be opened, let the 
countenance and support of even a few pious and influential individuals be 
afforded, and I am persuaded that agents to carry on the work, at least to 
commence it, will not be wanting. 

The difficulty is not in being unable to procure such agents : it lies deeper : 
it arises from the very little interest that has yet been taken in the subject ; 
from the strange neglect, among parents, and patriots, and Christians, of a 
well-digested and systematic plan for the education of children and youth ; 
from the sluggish contentment that is felt with the long established modes of 
instruction ; and from the apprehensions that all improvements are either 
unsafe or chimerical. 

Once rouse this apathy into the putting forth of a little exertion, and invest 
the subject with its true dignity and importance, and let it be felt that the 
church is under the most solemn obligations to feed the lamhs of her flock, 
and your young men will come at her bidding, to spend their strength and 
their days in this delightful service. 

But these young men are poor and cannot defray the expense of a prepara- 
tory education at such a Seminary as has been proposed. 

Poor young men are taken by the hand of charity, and prepared for other 
spheres of benevolent exertion ; and shall this wide, and as yet almost uncul- 
tivated field of benevolence be quite neglected, for the want of a little pecu- 
niary aid % Who gave the first impulse to Foreign Missionary efforts 1 Was 
nothing done until the whole Christian public was awakened to a sense of its 
duty ? Did this mighty enterprise begin in the collected councils of the grave 
and the venerable fathers of the church i Was the whole plan of operation 
digested and matured in all its parts, and no steps taken until all obstacles 
were removed, and patronage, and influence, and means collected and con- 
centrated to insure the successful prosecution of the vast design ] No ; 
long, long before all this complicated machinery was put in motion, the mas- 
ter-spring was at work, and a few pious and prayerful young men gave an 
impulse, at first to private zeal, and afterward to public co-operation, and the 
result fills us with gratitude and astonishment. 

Let a Mills and his associates arise to a hearty engagedness in the project 
of diffusing throughout our country a system for the best mode of conducting 
the education of youth ; let their faith be strong, and their perseverance 
unwavering ; and influence and wealth will soon contribute their share in the 
prosecution of the work ; and poverty on the part of those who are willing to 
endure the heat and burden of the day, will cease to be an obstacle in the 
way of accomplishing their benevolent designs. Providence can, in this, as 
in all the other departments of his dispensations, make even the selfish pas- 
sions of our nature contribute to the promotion of good and charitable exer- 
tions. 

Those who should devote themselves to the business of the instruction of 
youth as a profession, and who should prepare themselves for it by a course of 
study and discipline at such a Seminary as I have proposed, would not find it 
necessary, as our missionaries do, to depend on the charity of their country- 
men for support. Their talents, their qualifications, and their recommenda- 
tions, would inspire public confidence, and command public patronage. For 
experience would soon prove, if it can not be now seen in prospect, that to 
save time in the education of youth, and to have this education complete 
instead of being imperfect, and to prepare the youthful mind for accurate 
thought, and correct feeling, and practical, energetic action, in all the busi- 
ness of life, is to save money ; and even those who now expend a few dollars 
with so niggardly a hand, in the education of their dear, immortal offspring, 
would soon learn how to calculate on the closest principles of loss and gain, 
in the employment of instructors, and be willing to give twice as much to him 
who would do his work twice as well and in half the time, as they now give 
to him who has neither skill nor experience in his profession. 

Am I extravagant in these speculations ? I think I am not ; and if my 
readers will exercise a little more patience, I hope to show, that in adopting 
the plan which I have proposed, there will be an actual saving of money to 
individuals and to the ste--' in addition to those numerous advantages in a 



MR. GALLAUDET, ON TEACHERS' SEMINARIES. 45 

social, political, and religious point of view, that would result from it, and 
which are, if I mistake not, so great, that if they could not be attained in 
any other way, a pecuniary sacrifice ought not for a moment to stand in com- 
petition with them. 

My reasoning is founded on two positions which, I think, can not be con- 
troverted ; — that the present modes of instructing youth are susceptible of 
vast improvement ; and that if these improvements could be carried into 
operation, by having a more effectual system of education adopted, and by 
training up instructors of superior attainments and skill, there would be a great 
saving, both of time and labor, and of all the contingent expenses necessary 
to be incurred. 

Suppose, for the sake of argument, though I believe it falls short of the 
truth, that eight years of pretty constant attendance at school, counting from 
the time that a child begins to learn his letters, is necessary to give him what 
is called a good English education. I do not fear to hazard the assertion, 
that under an approved system of education, with suitable books prepared for 
the purpose, and conducted by more intelligent and experienced instructors, 
as much would be acquired in five years, by our children and youth, as is now 
acquired in eight. 

Now with regard to those parents who calculate on receiving benefit from 
the labor of their children, it will easily be seen that, by gaining three years 
out of eight in the course of their education, there will be an immense saving 
to the state. This saving alone would, I apprehend, if youth were usefully 
employed, more than defray the additional wages which would have to be 
given to instructors of skill and experience, and who should devote themselves 
to their employment as a profession for life. But if even the advantage to 
be derived from the labor of children is not taken into the account, it is evi- 
dent that, for having the same object accomplished in five years that now 
consumes eight, you could at least afford to pay as much for five years of 
instruction as you now pay for eight. In addition to this, as it is the custom 
in many of our country towns for the instructor to board in the families of 
those who send children to school, there would be a saving also in this 
respect. There would be a saving, too, with regard to all the contingent 
expenses of the school, such as books, stationery, wood, &c. 

In a community constituted like that of New England, where so great a 
proportion of its population is devoted to agricultural and mechanical pursuits, 
any system of education which could save the public three years out of eight 
of the time and labor of all its children and youth, would, it is manifest, add 
an immense sum to the pecuniary resources of the country, and recommend 
itself to every patriot and philanthropist, even on the most rigid principles of 
a calculating economy. 

Besides, the grand objects of education — to prepare the rising generation 
for usefulness and respectability in life, and to train them up for a better and 
happier state of existence beyond the grave — would not only be accomplished 
in a shorter space of time, but they would be much more effectually accom- 
plished. At present, with all the time, and labor, and expense bestowed upon 
it, the work is only half done ; and the effects of our imperfect modes of 
instruction are to render youth far less competent to succeed in any pursuits 
in which they may engage, than if their education was conducted by intelli- 
gent instructors, on a well-digested plan, and made as thorough and complete 
as it might be. 

How often has the individual of native vigor of intellect and force of enter- 
prise to lament, through a long life of unremitted effort, his many disap- 
pointments in the prosecution of his plans of business, arising altogether from 
the defects of his early education ! And if this early education were prop- 
erly conducted, what an accession it would yield to the resources of the 
community, in the superior ingenuity and skill of our artists ; in the more 
accurate and systematic transactions of our merchants ; in the profounder 
studies and more successful labors of our professional men ; in the wider 
experience and deeper sagacity of our statesmen and politicians ; in the 
higher attainments and loftier productions of our sons of literature and sci- 



46 MR. GALLAUDET, ON TEACHERS' SEMINARIES. 

ence ; and, permit me to add, in the nobler patriotism, the purer morals, and 
the more ardent piety of the whole mass of our citizens. 

I know it is no easy task to convince some minds that all these advantages 
yield just so many dollars and cents to the private purse, or to the public 
treasury. But my appeal is to those who take a more comprehensive view 
of what constitutes the real wealth of any community, and who estimate 
objects not by v^fhat they will to-day fetch in the market, if exposed to sale, 
but by their effects upon the permanent well-being and prosperity of the 
state. 

With such I leave the candid consideration of the remarks which I have 
offered in this and the preceding Essays ; in the mean while, cherishing the 
hope, that that Being who is now most wonderfully adjusting the various 
enterprises of benevolence, that distinguish the age in vvhich we live from all 
others which have preceded it, to the consummation of His gracious designs 
for the universal happiness of man, on the principles which the gospel of 
Jesus Christ inculcates, and which it alone can produce, will, sooner or later, 
and in some way or other, rouse the attention, and direct the efforts of the 
Christian world to that department of 'philanthropic exertion, the neglect of 
which must retard, if not quite counteract, complete success in all others, — 
the education of youth.'''' 

After the lapse of a quarter of a century, the author of the above 
remarks had the satisfaction of being present on the 15th of May, 1850, 
at New Britain, and of taking part in exercises appropriate to the open- 
ing of the " Normal School, or Seminary for the training of teachers in 
the art of instructing and governing the common schools of this state." 
The members of the school, during the first term, formed an Association 
for mutual improvement, to which they have given the name of the 
" Gallaudet Society," as an evidence of their appreciation of his early 
and long-continued labors to bring about the establishment of a Normal 
School in Connecticut. 



FIRST ANNUAL CIRCULAR 

OF THB 

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT NEW BRITAIN. 



The State Normal School or " Seminary for the training of teachers 
in the art of teaching and governing the Common Schools" of Connecti- 
cut, was established by act of the Legislature, May session, 1849, and 
the sum of eleven thousand dollars was appropriated for its support for a 
period of at least four years. 

The sum appropriated for the support of the school is derived not from 
the income of the School Fund, or any of the ordinary resources of the 
Treasury, but from a bonus of ten thousand dollars paid by the State 
Bank, at Hartford, and of $1000 paid by the Deep River Bank, for their 
respective charters. No part of this sum can be expended in any build- 
ing or fixtures for the school, or for the compensation of the trustees. 

The entire management of the Institution, as to the application of the 
•funds, the location of the school, the regulation of the studies and exerci- 
ses, and the granting of diplomas, is committed to a Board of Trustees, 
consisting of the Superintendent of Common Schools, ex officio, and one 
member for each of the eight counties of the state, appointed by the 
Legislature, two in each year, and to hold their office for the term of four 
years, and serve without compensation. The Board must submit an 
annual report as to their own doings, and the progress and condition of 
the seminary. 

The Normal School was located permanently in New Britain, on the 
1st of February, 1850, after full consideration of the claims and offers of 
other towns, on account of the central position of the town in the state, 
and its accessibility from every section by railroad ; and also in considera- 
tion of the liberal offer on the part of its citizens, to provide a suitable 
building, apparatus, and library, to the value of $16,000, for the use of the 
Normal School, and to place all the schools of the village under the man- 
agement of the Principal of the Normal School, as Schools of Practice. 

The building provided for the accommodation of the Normal School, 
and the Schools of Practice, when completed, will contain three large 
study-halls, with nine class-rooms attached, a hall for lectures and ex- 
hibitions, a laboratory for chemical and philosophical experiments, an office 
for the Principal and trustees, a room for the library, and suitable accom- 
modations for apparatus, clothes, furnaces, fuel, &c. The entire building 
will be fitted' up and furnished in the most substantial manner, and with 
special reference to the health, comfort and successful labor of pupils and 
teachers. In addition to the Normal School building, there are three 
houses located in different parts of tlie village, for the accommodation of 
the primary schools belonging to the Schools of Practice. 

The immediate charge of the Normal School, and Schools of Practice, 
is committed to Rev. T. D. P. Stone, Associate Principal, to whom all 
communications relating to the schools, can be addressed. 

The school was opened for the reception of pupils, on Wednesday, the 
15th of May, 1850, and the first term closed on Tuesday, October 1st. 
The number of pupils in attendance during the term, was sixty-seven ; 
thirty males, and thirty-seven females. 

The second term will commence on Wednesday, the 4th of December, 



48 FIRST ANNUAL CIRCULAR. 

1S50, and continue till the third Wednesday in April, 1851, divided into 
' two sessions as given below. 

Terms and Vacations. — The year is divided into two terms, Sum- 
mer and Winter, each term consisting of two sessions. 

The first session of the winter term commences on the first Wednesday 
of December, and continues fourteen weeks. The second session of the 
v/inter term commences on the third Wednesday of March, and contin- 
ues six weeks. 

The first session of the summer term commences on the third Wed- 
nesday of May. and continues twelve weeks. The second session of the 
summer term commences on the third Wednesday of August, and con- 
tinues six weeks. 

To accommodate pupils already engaged in teaching, the short ses- 
sion of each term will, as far as shall be found practicable, be devoted 
to a review of the studies pursued in the district schools in the season of 
the year immediately following, and to a course of familiar lectures on 
the classification, instruction and discipline of such schools. 

Admission op Pupils. — The highest number of pupils which can be 
received in any one term, is two hundred and twenty. 

Each school society is entitled to have one pupil in the school ; and 
no society can have more than one in any terra, so long as there are ap- 
plicants from any society, at the time unrepresented. Until the whole 
number of pupils in actual attendance shall reach the highest number fixed 
by law, the Principal is authorized to receive all applicants who may pre- 
sent themselves, duly recommended by the visitors of any school society. 

Any person, either male or female, may apply to the school visitors 
of any school society for admission to the school, who will make a writ- 
ten declaration, that their object in so applying is to qualify himself (or 
herself) for the employment of a common school teacher, and that it is 
his (or her) intention to engage in that employment, in this state. 

The school visitors are authorized to forward to the Superintendent of 
Common Schools, in any year, the names of four persons, two of each sex, 
who shall have applied as above, for admission to the school, and who 
shall have been found on examination by them, "possessed of the quahfi- 
cations required of teachers of common schools in this state," and whom 
they " shall recommend to the trustees as suitable persons, by their age, 
character, talents, and attainments, to be received as pupils in the Normal 
School." 

Applicants duly recommended by the school visitors, can forward their 
certificate directly to the Associate Principal of the Normal School at 
New Britain, who will inform them of the time when they must report 
themselves to be admitted to any vacant places in the school. 

Persons duly recommended, and informed of their admission, must re- 
port themselves within the first week of the term for which they are 
admitted, or their places will be considered as vacated. 

Any persons, once regularly admitted to the Normal School, can remain 
connected with the same, for three years, and will not lose their places, by 
temporary absence in teaching common schools in the state — such expe- 
rience, in connection with the instruction of the Institution, being consid- 
ered a desirable part of a teacher's training. 

Studies. — The course of instruction will embrace : — 1. A thorough 
review of the studies pursued in the lowest grade of common schools. 
2. An acquaintance with such studies as are embraced in the highest 
grade of common schools, authorized by law, and which will render the 
teaching of the elementary branch more thorough and interesting. 3. 
The art of teaching and its methods, including the history and progress 



FIRST ANNUAL CIRCULAR. 49 

of education, the philosophy of teaching and discipline, as drawn from the 
nature of the juvenile mind, and the application of those principles under 
the ordinary conditions of our common schools. 

The members of the school will be arranged in three classes — Junior, 
Middle and Senior. All pupils, on being admitted to the school, will be 
ranked in the Junior Class, until their familiarity with the studies of the 
lowest grade of common schools have been satisfactorily tested. The 
Middle Class will embrace those who are pursuing the branches usually 
taught in Public High Schools. The Senior Class will comprise those 
who are familiar with the studies of the Junior and Middle Classes, or 
who are possessed of an amount of experience in active and successful 
teaching, which can be regarded as a practical equivalenfi All the stu- 
dies of the school will be conducted in reference to their being taught 
again in common schools. 

Practice in the Art of Teaching and Governing Schools. — The 
several schools of the First School District, comprising the village of 
New Britain, are placed by a vote of the District, under the instruction 
and discipline of the Associate Principal, as Model Schools, and Schools of 
Practice, for the Normal School. These schools embrace about four hun- 
dred children, and are classified into three Primary, one Intermediate, 
and one High School. The course of instruction embraces all the stu- 
dies pursued in any grade of common schools in Connecticut. The in- 
struction of these schools will be given by pupils of the Normal School, 
under the constant oversight of the Associate Principal and Professors. 

Text Books. — A Library of the best text books, in the various stu- 
dies pursued in the schools, is commenced, and already numbers up- 
ward of four thousand volumes. Pupils are supplied with text books 
in such studies as they may be engaged, at a charge, barely sufficient to 
keep the books in good condition, and supply such as may be injured or 
lost. Arrangements have also been made to furnish teachers who wish 
to own a set of text books at the publishers' lowest wholesale price. 

Apparatus. — The sum of one thousand dollars is appropriated for the 
purchase of apparatus, which will be procured from time to time, as the 
wants of the school may require. As^far as practicable, such articles of 
apparatus will be used in the class-rooms of the Normal School, as can be 
readily made by teachers themselves, or conveniently procured at low 
prices, and be made useful in the instruction of District Schools. 

Library. — The school is already furnished with the best works on the 
Theory and Practice of Education, which the Normal pupils are expected . 
to read, and on several of which they are examined. The library will 
be supplied with Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and other books of refer- 
ence, to which free aiccess will be given to members of the school. 

Board. — Normal pupils must board and lodge in such families, and 
under such regulations, as are approved by the Associate Principal. 

The price of board, including room, fuel, lights and washing, in private 
families, ranges from $2,00 to $2,50 per week. Persons, expecting to 
join the school, should signify their intention to the Associate Principal, 
as early as practicable, before the commencement of a term, that there 
may be no disappointment in the place and price of board. 

Discipline. — The discipline of the institution is committed to the 
Associate Principal, who is authorized to secure the highest point of order 
and behavior by all suitable means, even to a temporary suspension of a 
pupil from the schools. The age of the pupils, the objects which bring 
them to a Normal School, and the spirit of the institution itself, will, it is 

D 



50 FIRST ANNUAL CIRCULAR. 

believed, dispense with the necessity of a code of rules. The members 
are expected to exemplify in their own conduct, the order, punctuahty, 
and neatness of good scholars, and exhibit in all their relations, Christian 
courtesy, kindness and fidelity. 

Examination and Inspection. — The school will be visited each term 
by a committee (4f the trustees, who will report the results of their exami- 
nation to the Board. 

There will be an examination at the close of each term, before the 
wliole Board, and at the close of the summer term, the examination will 
be public, and will be followed by an exhibition. 

The school is at all times open to inspection, and school visitors, teach- 
ers, and the friends of education generally ua the state, are cordially invi- 
ted to visit it at their convenience. 

Diploma. — The time required to complete the course of instruction 
and practice, which shall be deemed by the trustees a suitable prepara- 
tion for the business of teaching, and entitle any applicant to a Diploma 
of the Normal School, will depend on the age, attainments, mental disci- 
pline, moral character, and evidence of practical tact in instruction and 
government of each applicant. 

No diploma will be given to any person who does not rank in the 
Senior Class, and has not given evidence of possessing some practical 
talent as a teacher in the Schools of Practice, or in the District Schools of 
the state. 

teachers' institutes. 

A portion of the vacation in the spring and autumn, will be devoted 
by the Officers of the Normal School, to Teachers' Institutes, or Conven- 
tions, in different parts of the state. 

At least two of these Institutes will be held in the spring, for the spe- 
cial benefit of teachers who may be engaged, or expect to teach district 
schools in the summer following. 

COUNTY teachers' ASSOCIATION. 

The Principal, or one of the Professors of the Normal School, will 
attend, on invitation and due notice, at every regular meeting of anjr 
County Teachers' Association, which shall continue in session through 
two evenings and one day, and assist in the lectures, discussions and oth- 
er exercises of the occasion. 

STATE teachers' ASSOCIATION. 

The State Teachers' Association has voted to hold an annual meeting 
at New Britain during the examination at the close of the summer term 
of the Normal School, and a special meeting at the dedicatory exercises 
at the completion of the Normal School in the spring. Arrangements 
will be made to entertain all members of the Association, during the 
meeting. 

Adopted at a meeting of the Board of Tntstees, held at Neio Britain. 
Oct. 1, 1850. 

FRANCIS GILLETTE, President. 



HINTS TO SCHOOL VISITORS 

RESPECTING 

APPLICANTS FOR ADMISSION TO THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



By the First Annual Circular of the Trustees of the State Normal School, 
the undersigned are directed, for the present, to receive as pupils, all persons 
whom the visitors of any School Society shall recommend as suitable persons, 
by their age, character, and attainments, for this purpose. Upon your recom- 
mendation will depend, in no small degree, the character and usefulness of this 
institution. 

We beg of you, therefore, as far as you can, to send us candidates for admis- 
sion to the Normal School, who possess 

1. Purity and strength of moral and religious character, — an exemplary life, 
and the habit of self-government, and of subjecting their own actions to the test 
of moral and religious principle. 

2. Good health, — a vigorous and buoyant constitution, and a fund of lively, 
cheerful spirits. The business of leaching demands liveliness and activity both 
of mind and body. 

3. Good manners, — and by this, we mean those manners which are dictated 
by the spirit of our Saviour's Golden Rule, of doing unto others as we would 
that others should do unto us, — in manner as well as in matter. 

4. A love of, and sympathy with, children. 

5. A competent share of talent and information, — such as the law (Section 
22) demands of every teacher, and which you are required by the Act estab- 
lishing this School, to ascertain by actual examination. The proposed course 
of-instruction in the Normal School can not create, it can only improve, the 
talent and information of its pupil-teachers. 

6. A native tact and talent for teaching and governing others. No amount 
of instruction and practice can supply a deficiency in these respects. 

7. A love for the occupations of the school-room, and a desire to engage in 
Ae business of teaching for life. 

8. The Common School spirit — if need be, a martyr spirit, to live and die, 
for the more thorough, complete and practical education of all the children"of 
the State in the Common Schools — to be made, by their exertions, in co-opera- 
tion with parents and school officers, good enough for the best, and cheap 
enough for the poorest. 

9. Some experience as teachers. Even a short experience will serve to de- 
velope, if they possess them, the germs of the above qualities and qualifications, 
and will make even a brief course of instruction in the Normal School highly 
profitable. 

HENRY BARNARD, Principal of State Normal Sclwol. 
T. D. P. STONE, Associate Principal. 

EXTRACT FROM SECTION 22, CHAPTER 11., OP THE STATtJTES OF CONNECTICUT. 

" The Board of Visitors shall themselves, or by a Committee by them ap- 
pointed for that purpose, examine all candidates for teachers in the Common 
Schools of [each] society, and shall give to those persons with whose moral 
character, literary attainments, and ability to teach, they are satisfied, a certifi- 
cate, setting forth the branches he or she is found capable of teaching : provi- 
ded that no certificate shall be given to any person, not found qualified to teach 
reading, writing, arithmetic, and grammar thoroughly, and the rudiments oi 
geography and history." 



52 teachers' associations. 

teachers' institutes. 

The earliest of the class of meetings now known as Teacliers' Institutes in 
Connecticut, was held at Hartford in 1839, and continued in session four weeks._ 
A similar meeting for the benefit of female teachers was held in the spring of 
1840. In 1846 a convention of two hundred and fifty teachers assembled in 
Hartford, and continued in session five days. In 1847 the Legislature made 
provision for holding two meetings of this kind, of one week each, in each 
county of the State ; and by the act of 1849, it is made the duty of the Super- 
intendent "to hold at one convenient place in each county of the State, in the 
months of September, October, or November annually, schools or conventions 
of teachers, for the purpose of instructing in the best modes of governing and 
teaching our common schools, and to employ one suitable person to assist him 
at each of said schools." 

EDUCATIONAL PERIODICALS AND PUBLICATIONS. 

The State makes no provision for the publication of an educational paper. 
In 1838, the Connecticut Common School Journal was commenced by the Sec- 
retary of the Board of Commissioners of Common Schools, and continued by 
him till the abolition of the Board in 1842. In 1846, the Connecticut School 
Manual was commenced by Rev. Merril Richardson, and continued for two 
years, when it was suspended for the want of patronage. In 1850, the Super- 
intendent, in pursuance of a plan set forth in his report to the Legislature of 
that year, was authorized to prepare and issue a series of publications on the 
most important topics connected with the condition and improvement of com- 
mon schools. The series will embrace, 1. Legislation of Connecticut respect- 
ing Common Schools. 2. Condition of the Common Schools in each town 
and district. 3. &,chool houses. 4. Normal Schools and other agencies for the 
professional education of teachers. 5. Attendance and classification of chil- 
dren at school. 6. System of organization for common schools in cities and 
large districts. 7. Means of popular education in manufacturing villages 
8. Course of instruction in a small country district school. 9. Text Book and 
Apparatus. 10. School Inspection. 11. Means and mode of supporting 
schools. 12. Parental and public interest in common schools. 13. Public 
schools in other states and countries. 

PUBLIC ADDRESSES AND SCHOOL INSPECTION. 

The Legislature in 1850 authorized the Superintendent to secure the deliver 
ry of at least one address in a public meeting of parents, school officers, and 
teachers in each School Society, on topics connected with the improvement of 
the common schools in respect to organization, administration, instruction, 
and discipline. Under this power, the superintendent is aiming to illustrate 
some of the advantages of a system of county inspection and reports. 

TEACHERS' ASSOCIATIONS. 

The first association of tenchers in Connecticut, and as far as we have any 
knowledge, in the United States, was formed at Middletown, in 1798, under 
the name of the "School Association for Middlesex County." Its objects, as 
set forth in a printed circular in 1799, were "to promote a systematic course of 
instruction, and elevate the character and qualifications of teachers." 

A State Teachers' Asscciation was formed in 1847, and County Associations 
of teachers exist in the counties of Fairfield, Windham, New-Haven, New- 
London, and Litchfield. The State does not make any appropriation in aid 
of the objects of tliese associations, and the attendance of teachers is not en- 
couraged by local school officers. 



MASSACHUSETTS 



To James G. Carter, of Lancaster, belongs the credit of having first 
called public attention in Massachusetts, to the necessity and advan- 
tages of an institution devoted exclusively to the professional training of 
teachers, in a series of articles in the Boston Patriot, with the signature 
of '• Franklin," in the winter of 1824-5. After fifteen years of constant 
appeals to the people and the Legislature, by himself and others^ 
through the press and in every form of pubhc address, report, and 
memorial, he had the satisfaction of seeing his plan realized by two 
brief Resolves of the Legislature, passed on the 19th of April, 1838. 
For this action of the Legislature, the gratitude of the friends of educa- 
tion in Massachusetts, and in the whole country, are specially due to the 
munificence of the late Edmund Dwight, of Boston, as set forth in the 
Report and Resolves on the following page. 

We intended to preface this account of the Massachusetts State 
Normal Schools, with a sketch, mainly documentary, of the efforts put 
forth by many individuals, — in public stations and in private life — in the 
Legislature and out of it — in conventions and associations of teachers and 
school officers — through the periodical press, from the country newspa- 
per to the quarterly review — and in every form of public address and re- 
port, whether prepared for the district school meeting or for halls of legis- 
lation, — for the professional improvement of teachers in all departments. 
With much diligence, and by an extensive correspondence, we have 
collected the writings and notices of the labors of Carter, Lincoln, Rus 
sell, Woodbridge, Alcott, Burnside, Baily, Emerson, Brooks, Morton 
Everett, Rantoul, Channing, Mann, Stowe, Humphrey, and others ; with 
an account of the experiment of the Teachers' Seminary at Andover, of 
the proceedings of the American Institute of Instruction, the Essex 
County Teachers' Association, and the State Teachers' Association, 
the Board of Education, the Journal and Annals of Education, the Com- 
mon School Journal, the Massachusetts Teacher, the Annual Reports 
of Town School Committees, and other institutions and agencies by 
which the public mind of Massachusetts has been enlightened on the 
necessity and means of common school improvement, beyond any other 
state. But ill health, and other causes, forbid the completion of my 
original plan at this time. 



54 MASSACHUSETTS STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

State Normal Schools in Massachusetts. 

The following brief account of the history and organization of 
the State Normal Schools, in Massachusetts, is copied from the 
" Tenth Annual Report of the Secretary of the Board of Educa- 
tion." 

" In a communication made by the Secretary of the Board of Education 
to the Legislature, dated March 12, 1838, it was stated that private mu- 
nificence had placed at his disposal the sum of ten thousand dollars, to be 
expended, under the direction of the Board of Education, for qualiiying 
teachers for our Common Schools, on condition that the Legislature 
would place in the hands of the Board an equal sum, to be expended lor 
the same purpose. 

On the 19th of April, of the same year, resolves were passed, accepting 
the proposition, and authorizing the Governor, with the advice and con- 
sent of the Council, to draw his warrant upon the treasurer for the sum of 
ten thousand dollars, to be placed at the disposal of the Board for the 
purpose specified in the original communication." 

The following is a copy of the Resolve and of the Report of the 
Committee on the subject : 

" The Joint Committee, to whom was referred the commmiication of the Hon. 
Horace Mann, Secretary of the Board of Education, relative to a fund for the 
promotion of the cause of popular education in this Commonwealth, and also 
the memorial of the Nantucket County Association for the promotion of educa- 
tion, and the improvement of schools, and also the petition and memorial of 
the inhabitants of the town of Nantucket, on the same subject, having duly con- 
sidered the matter therein embraced, respectfully report, 

That the highest interest in Massachusetts is, and will always continue to 
be, the just and equal instruction of all her citizens, so far as the circumstances 
of each individual will permit to be imparted ; that her chief glory, for two 
hundred years, has been the extent to which this instruction was diffused, the 
result of the provident legislation, to promote the common cause, and secure 
the perpetuity of the common interest; that for inany years a well-grounded 
apprehension has been entertained, of the neglect of oitr common town schools 
by large portions of our community, and of the comparative degradation to 
which these institutions might fall from such neglect; that the friends of uni- 
versal education have long looked to the Legislature for the establishment of 
one or more seminaries devoted to the purpose of supplying qualified teachers, 
for the town and district schools, by whose action alone other judicious provi- 
sions of the law could be carried into full effect ; that at various times, the delib- 
eration of both branches of the General Court has been bestowed upon this, 
among other subjects, most intimately relating to the benefit ol the rising gen- 
eration and of all generations to come, particularly when the provision for 
instruction of school teachers was specially urged on their consideration, in 
1827, by the message of the Governor, and a report thereupon, accompanied by 
a bill, was submitted by the chairman, now a member of the Congress of the 
United States, following out to their fair conclusions, the suggestion of the Ex- 
ecutive, and the forcible essays of a distinguished advocate of this institution at 
great length, published and Avidely promulgated ; that although much has been 
done within two or three years, for the encouragement of our town schools by 
positive enactment, and more by the liberal spirit, newly awakened in our sev- 
eral communities, yet the number of competent teachers is foimd, by universal 
experience, so far inadequate to supply the demand for them, as to be the prin- 
cipal obstacle to improvement, and the greatest deficiency of our republic ; that 
we can hardly expect, as in the memorials from Nantucket is suggested, to re- 
move this deficiency even in a partial degree, much less to realize the comple- 
tion of the felicitous system of our free schools, without adopting means foi 



MASSACHUSETTS STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS 55 

more raiifonn modes of tuition and government in them, without better observ- 
ing the rules of prudence in the selection of our common books, the unlimited 
diversity of which is complained of throughout the State, and that these ben- 
efits may reasonably be expected to follow from no other course than a well- 
devised scheme in full operation, for the education of teachers ; that the 
announcement, in the communication recently received from the Secretary of 
the Board of Education, of that private mimificence, which offers ^10,000 to 
this Commonwealth, for removal of this general want, at least in the adoption 
of initiatory measures of remedy, is received by us with peculiar pleasure, and, 
in order that the General Court may consummate this good, by carrying forward 
the benevolent object of the unknown benefactor, the committee conclude, with 
recommending the passage of the subjoined resolutions. 

All which is respectfully submitted, 

James Savage, per order. 

RESOLVES 

RELATIVE TO aUALIFYING TEACHERS FOR COMMON SCHOOLS. 

Whereas, by letter from the Honorable Horace Mann, Secretary of the 
Board of Education, addressed, on the I2th March current, to the President of 
the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, it appears, that 
private munificence has placed at his disposal the sum of ten thousand dollars, 
to promote the cause of popular education in Massachusetts, on condition that 
the Commonwealth will contribute from vuiappropriated funds, the same 
amount in aid of the same cause, the two sums to be drawn upon equally from 
time to time, as needed, and to be disbursed under the direction of the Board of 
Education in qualifying teachers for our Common Schools ; therefore. 

Resolved, That bis Excellency, the Governor, be, and he is hereby authorized 
and requested, by and with the advice and consent of the Council, to draw his 
warrant upon the Treasurer of the Commonwealth in favor of the Board of 
Education, for the sum of $10,000, in such installments and at such times, as 
said Board may request : pTovided, said Board, in their request, shall certify, 
that the Secretary of said Board has placed at their disposal an amount equal 
to that for which such application may by them be made ; both sums to be ex- 
pended, under the direction of said Board, in qualifying teachers for the Com- 
mon Schools in Massachusetts. 

Resolved, That the Board of Education shall render an annual account of 
the maimer in which said moneys have been by them expended." 

"The Board, after mature deliberation, decided to establish three 
Normal Schools ; one for the north-eastern, one for the south-eastern, 
and one for the western part of the State. Accordingly, one was opened 
■ at Lexington, in the county of Middlesex, on the 3d day of July, 1839. 
This school, having outgrown its accommodations at Lexington, was re- 
moved to West Newton, in the same county, in Sept., 1844, where it now 
occupies a commodious building. 

The second Normal School was opened at Barre, in the county of 
Worcester, on the 4th day of September, 1839. This school has since 
been removed to Westfield, in the county of Hampden, both on account 
of the insufficiency of the accommodations at Barre, and because the 
latter place is situated east of the centre of population of the western 
counties. 

The third school was opened at Bridgewater, on the 9th day of Sept., 
1840, and is permanently located at that place. 

For the two last-named schools, there had been, from the beginning, 
very inadequate school-room accommodations. In the wmter of 1845, a 
memorial, on behalf of certain friends of education in the city of Boston 
and its vicinity, was presented to the Legislature, offering the sum of 
five thousand dollars, to be obtained by private subscriptions, on condition 
that the Legislature would give an equal sum, for the purpose of erecting 
two Normal School-houses; one for the school at Westfield and one for 
that at Bridgewater. By resolves of March 20, 1845, the proposition of 



56 MASSACHUSETTS STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

the memorialists was accepted and the grant made ; and by the same re- 
solves it was ordered, 'that the schools heretofore known as Normal 
Schools, shall be hereafter designated as State Normal Schools.' 

The school at West Newton is appropriated exclusively to females ; 
those at Bridgewater and Westfield admit both sexes. 

Among the standing regulations adopted by the Board, for the govern- 
ment of tlic State Normal Schools, are the following — most of which 
were adopted in the beginning, and have been constantly in force ; only a 
few modifications, and those very slight ones, having since been intro- 
duced : 

Admission. As a prerequisite to admission, candidates must declare 
it to be their intention to qualify themselves to become school teachers. 
If they belong to the State, or have an intention and a reasonable ex- 
pectation of keeping school in the State, tuition is gratuitous. Otherwise, 
a tuition-fee is charged, which is intended to be about the same as is 
usually charged at good academies in the same neighborhood. If pupils, 
after having completed a course of study at the State Normal Schools, 
immediately engage in school keeping, but leave the State, or enter a 
private school or an academy, they are considered as having waived the 
privilege growing out of their declared intention to keep a Common 
School in Massachusetts, and are held bound in honor to pay a tuition-fee 
for their instruction. 

If males, pupils must have attained the age of seventeen years com- 
plete, and of sixteen, if females ; and they must be free from any disease 
or infirmity, which would unfit them for the office of school teachers. 

They must undergo an examination, and prove themselves to be well 
versed in ortliography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography 
and arithmetic. 

They must furnish satisfactory evidence of good intellectual capacity 
and of high moral character and principles. 

Examinations for admission take place at the contimencement of each 
term, of which there are three in a yea;r. 

Term op Study. At West Newton and Bridgewater, the minimum 
of the term of study is one year, and this must be in consecutive terms 
of the schools. In regard to the school at Westfield, owing to the 
unwillingness of the pupils in that section of the State to remain at the 
school, even for so short a time as one year, the rule requiring a year's 
residence has been from time to time suspended. It is found to be 
universally true, that those applicants whose qualifications are best, are 
desirous to remain at the school the longest. 

Course of Study. The studies first to be attended to in the State 
Normal Schools, are those which the law requifes to be taught in the 
district schools, namely, orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, 
geography and arithmetic. - When these are mastered, those of a higher 
order will be progressively taken. 

For those who wish to remain at the school more than one year, and 
for all belonging to the school, so far as their previous attainments will 
permit, the following course is arranged : 

1. Orthography, reading, grammar, composition, rhetoric and logic. 

2. Writing and drawing. 

3. Arithmetic, mental and written, algebra, geometry, book-keeping, 
navigation, surveying. 

' 4. Geography, ancient and modern, with clironology, statistics and 
general history. 

5. Human rhysiology, and hygiene or the Laws of Health. 

6. Mental Philosophy. 

7. Music. . , ^ 



MASSACHUSETTS STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS. g^ 

8. Constitution and History of Massachusetts and of the United States. 

9. Natural Pliilosophy and Astronomy. 

10. Natural History. 

11. The principles of piety and morality, common to all sects of 
Christians. 

12. The science and art of teaching with reference to ail 
the above named studies. 

Religious Exercises. A portion of the Scriptures shall be read 
daily, in every State Normal School. 

Visiters. Each Normal School is under the immediate inspection of 
a Board of Visiters, who are in all cases to be members of the Board of 
Education, except that the Secretary of the Board may be appointed as 
one of the visiters of each school. 

The Board appoints one Principal Instructor for each school, who is 
responsible for its government and instruction, subject to the rules of the 
Board, and the supervision of the Visiters. The Visiters of the respective 
schools appoint the assistant instructors thereof 

To each Normal School, an Experimental or Model School is attached. 
This School is under the control of the Principal of the Normal School. 
The pupils of the Normal School assist in teaching it. Here, the know- 
ledge wliich they acquire in the science of teaching, is practically 
applied. The art is made to grow out of the science, instead of being 
empirical. The Principal of the Normal School inspects the Model 
School more or less, daily. He observes the manner in which his own 
pupils exemplify, in practice, the principles he has taught them. Some- 
times, all the pupils of the Normal School, together with the Principal, 
visit the Model School m a body, to observe the manner in which the 
teachers of the latter, for the time being, conduct the recitations or exer- 
cises. Then, returning to their own school-room, in company with the 
assistant teachers themselves, who have been the objects of inspection, 
each one is called upon to deliver his views, whether commendatory or 
otherwise, respecting the manner in which the work has been performed. 
At tliis amicable exposition of merits and defects, the Principal of the 
Normal School presides. After all others have presented their views, he 
deUvers his own ; and thus his pupils, at the threshold of their practice, 
have an opportunity to acquire confidence in a good cause, of which they 
might otherwise entertain doubts, and to rectify errors which otherwise 
would fossiUze into habit. 

The salaries of the teachers of the State Normal Schools are paid by 
the State." 

The following Rules were adopted for the regulation of the Normal 
Schools, at a meeting of the Board of Education, held in December, 1849. 

1. No new applicants for admission to the Normal Schools shall be received) 
except at the commencement of the term. 

2. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Board and of one of the visitors 
to be present on the first day of the term, for the examination of the candidates 
for admission. 

3. There shall be two periods for the admission of new members, the time to 
be fixed by the visitors of each school. 

4. Candidates for admission at the West Newton Normal School must pro- 
mise to remain four consecutive terms; and at the other Normal Schools, 
three consecutive terms. An exception may be made in the case of persons 
of more than ordinary experience and attainments. 

5. It shall be the duty of the principals of the several Normal Schools to 
make a report, at the end of each term, to the visitors, and if, in their judgment, 
any do not promise to be useful as teachers, they shall be dismissed. 

6. The course of study in each of the Normal Schools shall begin v/ith a re- 



gg MASSACHUSETTS STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

view of the studies pursued in the common schools, viz : reading, writing, or- 
thography, English grammar, mental and written arithmetic, geography, and 
physiology. 

7. The attention of pupils, in the Normal Schools, shall be directed, 1. To a 
thorough review of elementary studies ; 2. To those branches of knoAvledge 
which may be considered as an expansion of the above-named elementary 
studies, or collateral to them; 3. To the art of teaching and its modes. 

8. The advanced studies shall be equally proportioned, according to the fol- 
lowing distribution, into three departments, viz. : 1. The mathematical, includ- 
ing algebra through quadratic equations; geometry, to an amount equal to 
three books in Euclid ; book-keeping; and surveying. 2. The philosophical, in- 
cluding natural philosophy, astronomy, moral and intellectual philosophy,natural 
history, particularly that of our own country, and so much of chemistry as relates 
to the atmosphere, the waters, and the growth of plants and animals. 3. The 
literary, including the critical study of the English language, both in its struc- 
ture and history, with an outline of the history of English literature ; the history 
of the United States, with such a survey of general history as may be a suitable 
preparation for it ; and historical geography, ancient and mediaeval, so far as 
is necessary to understand general history, from the earliest times to the period 
of the French Revolution. 

9. " The art of teaching and its modes" shall include instruction on the 
philosophy of teaching and discipline, as drawn from the nature and condition 
of the juvenile mind ; the history of the progress of the art, and the application 
of it to our system of education ; and as much exercise in teaching under con- 
stant supervision, toward the close of the course, as the circumstances and in- 
terests of the model schools will allow. 

10. Members of the Normal Schools may, with the consent of the respective 
boards of visitors, remain as much longer than the period required, as they 
may desire. 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 



WEST NEWTON. 



The State Normal Schools, of which there are three in Massachusetts, are 
designed for those only who purpose to teach, and especially for those who pur- 
pose to teach in the common schools. The school at West Newton is for 
females. 

It was opened at Lexington, July 3d, 1839, with the examination of three 
pupils, who were all that presented themselves as candidates. At the close of 
the first term it numbered twelve pupils. 

The school continued at Lexington five years. In May, 1844, having by far 
outgrown its accommodations, it was removed to "West Newton, where the lib- 
erality of the Hon. Josiah Gluincy, Jr., of Boston, had provided for it by the pur- 
chase of a building, formerly used as a private academy, which he generously 
gave to the Institution. 

The whole number of graduates is 423, nearly all of whom have engaged in 
teaching, the most of them in the public schools of this state. 

Conditions op Entrance. — 1. The applicant must be at least sixteen years 
old. 

2. She must make an explicit declaration of her intention toiecome a Teacher. 

3. She must produce a certificate of good physical, intellectual and moral 
CHARACTER, from some responsible person. It is exceedingly desirable that this 
condition be strictly complied with on the part of those who present candidates. 

4. She must pass a satisfactory examination in the common branches, viz : — 
Reading, spelling and defining, arithmetic, grammar, writing and geography. 

5. She must give a pledge lo remain in the school at least four consecutive 
terms, and to observe faithfully all the regulations of the Institution, as long as 
she is a member of it. 

6. All candidates for admission must be at the school-room on the morning of 
the day which precedes that on which the term commences, at half-past eight 
o'clock. None will be admitted after the day of examination. 

7. Each pupil, at entrance, must be supplied with slate and pencil, blank 
book, Bible, Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary, and Morse's Geography. 
Many of the other books used will be furnished from the library of the school. 

Studies. — The course of study in each of the State Normal Schools begins 
with a review of the studies pursued in the Common Schools, viz: — Reading, 
writing, orthography, English grammar, mental and written arithmetic, geogra- 
phy and physiology. 

The attention of pupils is directed, 1st, to a thoro'ugh review of elementary 
studies ; 2d, to those branches of knowledge which may be considered as an ex- 
pansion of the above-named elementary studies, or collateral to them ; to the art 
of teaching and its modes. 

The advanced studies are equally proportioned, according to the following 
distribution, into three departments, viz:— 1. The mathematical, including 
algebra through quadratic equations ; geometry, to an amount equal to three 
books in Euclid ; book-keeping and surv^eying. 2. The philosophical, including 
natural philosophy, astronomj^, moral and intellectual philosophy, natural his- 
tory, particularly that of our own country, and so much of chemistry as relates 
to the atmosphere, the waters, and the growth of plants and animals. 3. The 
literary, including the critical study of the English language, both in its struc- 
ture and history, with an outline of the history of English literature ; the history 
of the United Slates, with such a survey of general history as may be asuitable 
preparative for it; and historical geography, ancient and mediseval, so far as is 
necessary to understand general history, from the earliest time to the period of 
the French Revolution. 



QQ WEST NEWTON STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

"The art of teaching and its modes," includes instruction as to the philoso- 
phy of teaching and discipline, as drawn from the nature and condition of the 
juvenile mind; the history of the progress of the art, and the application of it to 
our system of education; and as much exercise in teaching under constant 
supervision, toward the close of the course, as the circumstances and interests 
of the Model schools may allow. 

Members of the higher classes give teaching exercises before the whole 
school, several each week. Members of the senior class spend three weeks, 
each, in the public grammar school of District No. 7, which is connected with 
the institution as its Model department. 

Pupils who have had considerable experience in teaching, and are otherwise 
qualified for it, will be allowed to enter existing classes. 

Pupils who may desire to study the Latin and French languages, and to pre- 
pare themselves to instruct in those branches usually taught in High Schools, 
can have an opportunity to do so, by giving a pledge to remain in the school for 
a term of three years, provided the number is sufficient to warrant the forming 
of a class. 

Examinations. — The school is visited and examined by the Visiting Com- 
mittee of the Board of Education, at the close of each term; and a public ex- 
amination is held whenever a class graduates. The school is open to visitors 
at all times. 

Library and Apparatus. — A well-selected Library, consisting mostly of 
works on education, belongs to the school, and also a well-assorted Apparatus, 
for the illustration of principles in natural philosophy, chemistry, mathematics, 
&c. &c. 

Tuition. — For those who purpose to teach in the public schools of the state, 
tuition is free; for such as intend to teach elsewhere, it is $10 per term, payable 
at entrance, and such can not be admitted to the exclusion of those first men- 
tioned. At the beginning of each term, each pupil pays to the Principal Si, 50, 
to meet incidental expenses. 

Board. — Board may be had in good families at from $2 to $2,50 per week, 
including washing and fuel. Some of the pupils take rooms and board them- 
selves at a lower rate. The whole annual expense is about $100. 

Terms and Vacations. — There are three terms in the year. The winter 
term commences on the second Wednesday in December, and continues fifteen 
weeks. The summer term commences on the second Wednesday in April, 
and continues fifteen weeks. The autumn term commences on the first Wed- 
nesday in September, and continues twelve weeks. Between the summer and 
autumn terms, there is a vacation of six weeks ; between the other terms a 
vacation of two weeks. No session is held on the week of the anniversaries in 
Boston. 

Pupils who reside in the vicinity, and whose friends request it, have leave to 
go home on Saturday morning and stay until Monday morning, provided this 
can be done without interference with school duties. 

Pupils are not permitted to boai'd at such a distance from the institution, as 
to render it impracticable for them to be present during all regular exercises. 

Study Hours, &c. — It is expected, as a matter of course, that the young 
ladies will conform to the general order and usage of the families in which they 
reside. Where it can be done conveniently, it is desirable- that they should 
breakfast about one hour after rising, dine at a quarter past two o'clock, and 
sup from six to six and a half o'clock. 

The hours for rising, studying, &;c., will vary somewhat with the season of 
the year. For the winter and autumn terms, the pupils will rise at six o'clock, 
and study one hour, either before or cfier breakfast, as may suit the custom of 
the family. In the summer term, they will rise at five o'clock, and study two 
hours. In the afternoon, they will study from four till five and a half o'clock. 
Evening study hours for the winter and autumn terms commence at seven 
o'clock, and continue two hours, with a short recess ; for the summer term, eve- 
ning study hours commence at eight o'clock, and continue one hour. 

All study hours are to be spent in perfect quietness. At all seasons of the year 
pupils are to retire at te?i o'clock. Evety light must be extinguished at half-past 
ten, at the utmost. 



WEST NEWTON STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



61 



It is expected that the pupils will attend public worship on the Sabbath, 
health, weather, and walking permitting; preserve order and quiet in their 
rooms, and throughout the house ; and refrain from every thing like a desecra- 
tion of the da}''. 

Order, pumctualtty and neatness, in their fersons and in their rooms, and a 
kind and respectful demeanor, are expected of all. 

It is expected that the young ladies will avoid all ground of complaint, and 
endeavor to make themselves agreeable in their family intercourse, thus secur- 
ing honor to themselves and the institution. 

The Principal requests that any marked and continued disregard of these 
regulations may be reported to him. 

The school sessions commence at eight and a half o'clock, a. m., and close at 
two o'clock, p. M. On Saturday no session is held. 

Pupils who desire to leave town for home, or for other places, are expected 
to confer with the Principal. 

The following letter from Mr. Peirce, the first Principal of the West 
Newton State Normal School, will exhibit the views with which this 
eminent teacher and educator conducted the first institution of the kind 
opened on this continent : 

" Dear Sir: — You ask me 'what I aimed to accomplish, and would aim to 
accomplish now, with my past experience before me, in a Normal School.' 

I answer briefly, that it was my aim, and it would be my aim again, to make 
better teachers, and especially, better teachers for our common schools ; so 
that those primary seminaries, on which so many depend for their education, 
might answer, in a higher degree, the end of their institution . Yes, to make 
better teachers; teachers who would understand, and do their business better; 
teachers, who should know more of the nature of children, of youthful devel- 
opments, more of the subjects to be taught, and more of the true methods of 
leaching; who would teach more philosophically, more in harmony with the 
natural development of the young mind, with a truer regard to the order and, 
connection in which the different branches of knowledge should be presented to 
it, and, of course, more successfully. Again, I felt that there was a call for a 
truer government, a higher training and discipline, in our schools ; that the ap- 
peal to the rod, to a sense of shame and fear of bodily pain, so prevalent in 
them, had a tendency to make children mean, secretive, and vengeful, instead 
of high-minded, truthful, and generous ; and I wished to see them in the hands 
of teachers, who could understand the higher and purer motives of action, as 
gratitude, generous affection, sense of duty, by which children should be influ- 
enced, and under which their whole character should be formed. In short, I 
was desirous of putting our schools into the hands of those who would make 
them places in which children could learn, not only to read, and write, and 
spell, and cipher, but gain information on various other topics, (as accounts, 
civil institutions, natural history, physiology, political economy, &c.) which 
would be useful to them in after life, and have all their faculties, (physical, 
intellectual and moral,) trained in such harmony and proportion, as would re- 
sult in the highest formation of character. This is what I supposed the object 
of Normal Schools to be. Such was my object. 

But in accepting the charge.of the first American Institution of this kind, I 
did not act in the belief that there were no good teachers, or good schools 
among us ; or that I was more wise, more fit to teach, than all my fellows. On 
the contrary, I knew that there were, both within and without Massachusetts, 
excellent schools, and not a few of them, and teachers wiser than myself; yet 
my conviction was strong, that the ratio of such schools to the whole number of 
schools were small ; and that the teachers in them, for the most part, had grown 
up to be what they were, from long observation, and through the discipline of 
an experience painful to themselves, and more painful to their pupils. 

It was my impression also, that a majority of those engaged in school-keep- 
ing, taught few branches, and those imperfectly, that they possessed little fat- 
ness for their business, did not understand well, either the nature of children or 
the subjects they professed to teach, and had little skill in the art of teaching or 
governing schools. I could not think it possible for them, therefore, to make 



g2 WEST NEWTON STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

their instructions very intelligible, interesting, or profitable to their pupils, or 
present to them the motives best adapted to secure good lessons and good con- 
duct, or, in a word, adopt such a course of training as would result in a sound 
development of the faculties, and the sure formation of a good character. I 
admitted that a skill and power to do all this might be acquired by trial, if 
teachers continued in their business long enough ; but while teachers were thus 
learning, I was sure that pupils must be suffering. In the process of time, a 
man may find out by experiment, (trial,) how to tan hides and convert them into 
leather. But most likely the time would be long, and he would spoil many be- 
fore he got through. It would be far better for him, we know, to get some 
knowledge of Chemistry, and spend a little time in his neighbor's tannery, be- 
fore he sets up for himself. In the same way, the farmer may learn what 
trees, and fruits, and seeds, are best suited to particular soils, and climates, and 
modes of culture, but it must be by a needless outlay of time and labor, and ' 
the incurring of much loss. If wise, he would first learn the principles and 
facts which agricultural experiments have already established, and then com- 
mence operations. So the more I considered the subject, the more the convic- 
tion grew upon my mind, that by a judicious course of study, and of discipline, 
teachers may be prepared to enter on their work, not only with the hope, but 
almost with the assurance of success. I did not then, I do not now, (at least 
in the fullest extent of it,) assent to the doctrine so often expressed in one form 
or another, that there are no general principles to be recognized in education ; 
no general methods to be followed in the art of teaching; that all depends upon 
the individual teacher; that every principle, motive and method, must owe its 
power to the skill with which it is applied; that what is true, and good, and 
useful in the hands of one, may be quite the reverse in the hands of another; 
and of course, that every man must invent his own methods of teaching-and 
governing, it being impossible successfully to adopt those of another. To me ) 
it seemed that education had claims to be regarded as a science, being based on 4 
immutable principles, of which the practical teacher, though he may modify ( 
them to meet the change of ever-varying circumstances, can never lose sight. " 

That the educator should watch the operations of nature, the development of 
the mind, discipline those faculties whose activities first appear, and teach that 
knowledge first, which the child can most easily comprehend, viz., that Avhich 
comes in through the senses, rather than through reason and the imagi- 
nation ; that true education demands, or rather implies the training, strength- 
ening, and perfecting of all the faculties by means of the especial exer- 
cise of each ; that in teaching, we must begin with what is simple and 
known, and. go on by easy steps to what is complex and unknown; that for 
true progress and lasting results, it were better for the attention to be concen- 
trated on a few studies, and for a considerable time, than to be divided among 
many, changing from one to another at short intervals ; that in training chil- 
dren we must concede a special recognition to the principle of curiosity, a love of 
knowledge, and so present truth as to keep this principle in proper action; that 
the pleasure of acquiring, and the advantage of possessing knoAvledge, may be 
made, and should be made, a sufficient stimulus to sustain wholesome exertion 
without resorting to emulation, or medals, or any rewards other than those 
which are the natural fruits of industry and attainment; that for securing order 
and obedience, there are better ways than to depend solely or chiefly upon the 
rod, or appeals to fear ; that much may be done by way of prevention of evil ; 
that gentle means should always first be tried ; that undue attention is given to 
intellectual training in our schools, to the neglect of physical and moral ; that 
the training of the faculties is more important than the communication of 
knowledge ; that the discipline, the instruction of the school-room, should bet- 
ter subserve the interests of real life, than it now does ; — these are some of the 
principles, truths, facts, in education, susceptible, I think, of the clearest de- 
monstration, and pretty generally admitted now, by all enlightened educators. 

,The old method of teaching Arithmetic, for instance, by taking up some 
printed treatise and solving abstract questions consisting of large numbers, 
Jyorking blindly by what must appear to the pupil arbitrary rules, would now 
be regarded as less philosophical, less in conformity to mental development, 
than the more modern way of beginning with mental Arithmetic, using practi- 
cal questions, which involve small numbers, and explaining the reason of eve- 
ry step as you go along. 



WEST NEWTON STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. g3 

So in the study of Grammar, no Normal teacher, whether a graduate or not, 
of a Normal School, would require his pupils to commit the whole text-book to 
memory, before looking at the nature of words, and their application in the 
structure of sentences. Almost all have found out that memorizing the Gram- 
mar-book, and the exercise of parsing, do very little toward giving one a 
knowledge of the English language. 

Neither is it learning Geography, to read over and commit to memory, sta- 
tistics of the length and breadth of countries, their boundaries, latitude and lon- 
gitude, cfec, &c., without map or globe, or any visible illustration, as was once 
the practice. Nor does the somewhat modern addition of maps and globes 
much help the process, unless the scholar, by a previous acquaintance with ob- 
jects in the outer world, has been prepared to use them. The shading for 
mountains, and black lines for rivers on maps, will be of little use to a child 
who has not already some idea of a mountain and a river. 

And the teacher who should attempt to teach reading by requiring a child to 
repeat from day to day, and from month to month, the whole alphabet, until he 
is familiar with all the letters, as was the fashion in former days, would de- 
serve to lose his place and be sent himself to school. Could any thing be more 
injudicious 1 Is it not more in harmony with Nature's work, to begin with sim- 
ple, significant words, or rather sentences, taking care always to select such as 
are easy and intelligible, as well as short 1 Or, if letters be taken first, should 
they not be formed into small groups, on some principle of association, and be 
combined with some visible object? 

"Surely, the different methods of teaching the branches above-mentioned, are 
not all equally good. Teaching is based on immutable principles, and may be 
regarded as an art. 

Nearly thirty years' experience in the business of teaching, I thought, had 
given me some acquaintance with its true principles and processes, and I deem- 
ed it no presumption to believe that I could teach them to others. This I at- 
teu'fpted to do in the Normal School at Lexington ; 1st. didactically, i. e. by 
precept, in the form of familiar conversations and lectures ; •2d. by giving every 
day, and continually, in my own manner of teaching, an exemplification of my 
theory ; 3d. by requiring my pupils to teach each other, in my presence, the 
things which I had taught them; and 4th. by means of the Model School, 
where, under my general supervision, the Normal pupils had an opportunity, 
both to prove and to improve their skill in teaching and managing schools. At 
all our recitations, (the modes of which were very various,) and in other con- 
nections, there was allowed the greatest freedom of inquiry and remark, and 
principles, modes, processes, every thing indeed relating to school-keeping, was 
discussed. The thoughts and opinions of each one Avere thus made the proper- 
ty of the whole, and there was infused into all hearts a deeper and deeper inter- 
est in the teachers' calling. In this way the Normal School became a kind of 
standing Teachers' Institute. 

But for a particular account of my manner and processes at the Normal 
School, allow me to refer you to a letter which I had the honor, at your request, 
to address to you from Lexington, Jan. 1, 1841, and which was "published in 
the Common School Journal, both of Connecticut and Massachusetts, (vol. S.) 

What success attended my labors, I must leave to others to say. I acknowl- 
edge, it was far from being satisfactory to myself Still the experiment con- 
vinced me that Normal Schools may be made a powerful auxiliary to the cause 
of education. A thorough training in them, I am persuaded, will do much to- 
ward supplying the want of experience. It will make the teachers' work easier, 
surer, better. I have reason to believe that Normal pupils are much indebted 
for whatever of fitness they possess for teaching, to the Normal School. They 
uniformly profess so to feel. I have, moreover, made diligent inquiry in regard 
to their success, and it is no exaggeration to say, that it has been manifestly 
great. Strong testimonials to the success of many of the early graduates of the 
Lexington (now W. Newton) Normal School, were published with the 8th Re- 
port of the late Secretary of the Board of Education, and may be found in the 
7th vol. of the Massachusetts Common School Journal. 

But it is sometimes asked, (and the inquiry deserves an answer,) Allowing 
that teaching is an art, and that teachers may be trained for their business, 
have we not High Schools and Academies, in which the various school branch- 
es are well taught 1 May not teachers in them be prepared for their work 1 



g^ WEST NEWTON STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Where is the need then of a distinct order of Seminaries for training teachers 1 
I admit we have Academies, High Schools, and other schools, furnished with 
competent teachers, in which is excellent teaching; but at the time of the es- 
tablishment of the Normal Schools in Massachusetts, there was not, to my 
knowledge, any iirst-rate institution exclusively devoted to training teachers 
for our common schools; neither do I think there is now any, except the Nor- 
mal Schools. And teachers can not be prepared for their work anywhere else, 
so well as in seminaries exclusively devoted to this object. The art of teach- 
ing must be made the great, the paramount, the only concern. It must not 
come in as subservient to, or merely Collateral with any thing else whatever. 
And again, a Teachers' Seminary should have annexed to it, or rather as an 
integral part of it, a model, or experimental school for practice. 

Were I to be placed in a Normal School again, the only difference in my 
aim would be to give more attention to the development of the faculties, to 
the spirit and motives by which a teacher should be moved, to physical and 
moral education, lo the inculcation of good principles and good manners. 

In conclusion, allow me to recapitulate. It was my aim, and it would be my 
aim again, in a Normal School, to raise up for our common schools especially, 
a better class of teachers, — teachers who would not only teach more and better 
than those already in the field, but who Avould govern better; teachers, who 
would teach in harmony with the laws of juvenile development, who would se- 
cure diligent study and good lessons and sure progress, without a resort to emula- 
tion and premiums, and goodorderlrom higher motives thanthefear of therodor 
bodily pain ; teachers, who could not only instruct well in the common branch- 
es, as reading, writing, arithmetic, &cc., but give valuable information on a va- 
riety of topics, such' as accounts, history, civil institutions, political economy, 
and physiology; bring into action the various powers of children, and prepare 
them for the duties of practical life ; teachers, whose whole influence on their 
pupils, direct and indirect, should be good, tending to make them, not only good 
readers, geographers, grammarians, arithmeticians, &c., but good scholars, 
good children, obedient, kind, respectful, mannerly, truthful ; and in due time, 
virtuous, useful citizens, kind neighbors, high-minded, noble, pious men and 
women. And this I attempted to do by inculcating the truth in the art of teach- 
ing and governing, — the truth in all things; and by giving them allying exam- 
ple of it in my own practice." 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 



BRIDGEWATER. 



THE JNormal School at Bridgewater, as v/ell as that at Westfield, re- 
ceives both male and female pupils. The regulations respecting the 
admission of pupils, course of study, number and length of each session, 
are set forth in the Regulations of the Board. The following communi- 
cations from Mr. N. TilHnghast who has been the Principal of this Insti- 
tution from its first establishment, and has now the longest experience of 
any Normal School teacher in this country, gives the general results of 
his experience, and the experience of this Institution in the work of educa- 
ting teachers. 

" Tlie main facts about this school you are already acquainted with. It went 
into operation September 9tli, 1840, with 28 pupils, lliere have entered the school 
in all, 657 pupils ; 365 females, 292 males. Up to August, 1846, pupils were re- 
ceived for two terms, which were not necessarily successive. Since that time they 
have been required to remain three successive terms, of 14 weeks each. The aver- 
age number at present is between 60 and 70. The whole number of pupils since 
August, 1846, is 252 ; of these, 32, from various causes, have left the school after 
one or two terms. Of the 220, two have not been, and apparently, do not intend 
to be, teachers. 

It seems to me that these schools are doing good. My own scholars have, I 
think, succeeded as well as I could reasonably expect. Many have failed ; indeed 
many from whom I looked for success ; others have continued to keep schools, but 
doing no better, for aught that I know, than they would have done without staying 
a year here ; but still I can not feel disappointed. 

There are, it seems to me, grave defects in the constitution of my school. Four 
years would, in my judgment, be profitably given to the subjects which we touch 
on in one. If pupils must be taught subjects in these schools, as I think they must 
for a time under the best organization, the course ought to extend over three years 
at least. I tliink it would be a better plan than the present, to receive pupils for, 
say twenty-one weeks, and to give that time to reading, spelling, arithmetic, and 
geography ; and in another twenty-one weeks, to take up reading, spelling, physio- 
logy, grammar 5 so that only a few studies should be in the school at a time, and 
teachers might go for a term without interfering with their teaching school. The 
great evil now, in my school, is the attempt to take up so many studies, most per- 
sons inverting the ti'uth, and supposing the amount acquired the important thing, 
and the study unimportant. But I should be content if I could bring pupils into 
such a state of desire that they would pursue truth, and into such a state of knowl- 
edge that they could recognize her when overtaken. A very few studies, and long 
dwelling on them — this is my theory. I have no especial belief in teaching others 
methods of teaching : I do not mean, that the subject should be entirely passed by ; 
but that pupils should not be trained into, or directed into particular processes ; it 
seems to me that each well-instructed mind wall arrive at a method of imparthig, 
better for it than any other method. I therefore have tried to bring my pupils 
to get at results for themselves, and to show them how they may feel confi- 
dent of the truth of their results. I have sought criticism from my scholars on all 
my methods, processes, and results ; aimed to have them, kindly of course, but fii-eely 
criticise each other ; and they are encouraged to ask questions, and propose doubts. I 
call on members of the classes to hear recitations, and on the others to make re- 
marks, thus approving and disapproving one another ; they are called upon to make 

E 



66 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRIDGEWATER. 



up general exercises, and to deliver tliem to their classes, sometimes on subjects and 
in styles fitted to those whom they address ; sometimes they are bid to imagine 
themselves speaking to children. I find I am getting more into details than I intend, 
or you wish. My idea of a Normal School is, that it should have a term of four 
years ; that those studies should be pursued that will lay a foundation on which to 
build an education. I mean, for example, that algebra should be thoroughly studied 
as the foundation for arithmetic ; that geometry and trigonometry should be studied, by 
which, with algebra, to study natm-al philosophy, &c. ; the number of studies should 
be comparatively small, but much time given to them. I, of course, do not intend 
to write a list of studies, and what I have said above is only for illustration : the 
teacher should be so trained as to be above his text books. Whatever has been 
done in teaching in all countries, dififerent methods, the thoughts of the best minds 
on the science and the art of instruction, should be laid before the neophyte teachers. 
In a proper Normal School there should be departments, and the ablest men put 
over them, each in his own department. Who knows more than one branch 
well ? 

I send herewith a catalogue of my school, which will give you some idea of its 
osteology ; what of life these bones have, others must judge. But when shall the 
whole vision of the Prophet be fulfilled in regard to the teachers of the land, — " And 
the breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, (not on those 
of any author) an exceeding great army." 

God prosper the work, and may your exertions in the cause be gratefully remem- 
bered." 

The Visitors of the Bridgewater Normal School, in their Report to the 
Board, in December. 1850, present the following statement : — 

That at the first term of the normal year, seventeen pupils entered ; and during 
that term the whole number was fifty-nine. At the second term, tliirty-one en- 
tered ; during which term the whole number was seventy-two. At the third term, 
ending November 12, twenty-five entered; and the whole number during that 
term was seventy-nine. The whole number received during the year was seventy- 
three. Fifteen graduated at the end of the year. Two of the graduating class left 
the school on account of ill health. 

The young men of the graduating class are all engaged for the winter schools. 
Of the young ladies, some are teacliing now, and all intend to take schools as they 
have opportunity. 

The visitors have repeated their attendance upon the school, at different times 
during the year, witli the liighest satisfaction. They have witnessed, with great 
pleasure, the enlightened zeal and earnestness with which the principal and his as- 
sistants have done their work, and bear testimony to the evident thoroughness 
with which the training of the pupils has been conducted. Tliey regard this school 
as an honor to the state, and as doing a most important service in regard to the 
great cause of education." 



CONDITION 



or THE 

STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1850. 



The following facts and suggestions respecting the condition and im- 
provement of the State Normal Schools of Massachusetts at the close of 
the year 1850, are gathered from the " Fourteenth Annual Report of the 
Board of Education,^'' dated Dec. 12, 1850. The whole document is 
highly creditable to the commonwealth of Massachusetts. The large 
amount voluntarily raised by the people of the several cities and towns, 
for the support of common schools, is without a parallel in the history of 
popular education. The appropriation of a portion of the avails of the 
school fund, for the general purposes of Teachers' Institutes, Normal 
Schools, State and County Associations of Teachers, Agents of the 
Board of Education for Inspection of Schools and Addresses to the People, 
does more for the prosperity of the school system, than a much larger 
sum expended directly on the schools, and which, in most cases, would 
only diminish to that extent the sum raised by the people of the towns. 

TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. 

" Twelve different Teachers' Institutes have been held, and attended 
by the secretary, in as many different and distant parts of the state. By 
an improved organization, and by the use of somewhat permanent 
teachers for the more important branches in which instruction was given, 
these Institutes have been made to act with, it is believed, very beneficial 
effects, upon a larger number of teachers than have been reached in any 
former year. The Board continue to think very highly of the usefulness 
and efficiency of well-managed Teachers' Institutes, and would respect- 
fully urge the continuance of the means necessary for their support. Not 
less than 1,750 individuals, nearly all of them actual teachers in the 
common schools, have, this year, been members of the Institutes ; very 
much larger numbers have listened to the lectures and course of instruc- 
tion given at them ; and the testimony is abundant and uniform, as to 
the beneficial effects upon the schools of the influence thus exerted." 

NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

" But the most important organ for the advancement of the teachers, 
and with them of the schools in the commonwealth, and the most prolific 
of hopeful results, is the Normal Schools ; and to these the Board have 
continued to give their especial attention. 

The citizens of most of the towns in the state, have reason to look 
with pride and satisfaction upon what they have done in regard to the 
building, furnishing, warming, and ventilating of school-houses ; and 
they have reason to rejoice that their example has been followed in many 
of the sister states. These improvements are valuable in themselves, 
and still more as evidence of the interest which the people take in their 
schools. But they are external. They do not directly touch the most 



08 STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1850. 

essential interests of tlie schools : the education of the teachers is the im 
portant thing. Nearly all the evils complained of in the present con 
.dition of the schools will diminish, and finally, almost disappear, under 
the influence, of highly qualified teachers. The greatest of them, irregu 
larity of attendance and truancy, can be removed in no other way. They 
may be lessened, but can not be prevented, by enactments. The 
remedy in each school is a good teacher ; one who knows how to interest 
his pupils, and make them feel that absence fronti school is an absolute 
personal loss, and who knows how to win the affections, so as to make 
his pupils earnestly desire to do what he wishes. 

The better education of teachers, then, in whatever may render them 
more able tO' teach, and more powerful to influence, is the object which, 
most of all. the Board desire to keep in view ; and the most efficient 
agency for this object, with which they are acquainted, is the Normal 
School. They refer, with satisfaction, to the several reports which they 
herewith submit, upon the condition of^ the Normal Schools. 

It was expected that the numbers in these schools would be somewhat 
diminished by the increase in the length of time required to be spent at 
them. In this expectation the Board have been agreeably disappointed, 
the attendance not having been less than in any former year. 

Still, notwithstanding what has yet been done by these schools, and 
by the Teachers' Institutes, the supply of competent teachers is entirely 
inadequate to the wants of the schools ; and there is danger lest, to meet 
this demand, persons superficially instructed shall be sent out as teachers 
from the Normal Schools. To guard against this danger, and, at the 
same time, to elevate the standard in the schools from which the pupils 
of the Normal Schools come, and in the Normal Schools themselves, the 
Board deem it advisable to make the requisitions for admission higher; 
and, to render the annual examinations for the classes within the Normal 
Schools more minute, more thorough and more extended than heretofore, 
they propose to have them condhcted in such a way as to bring these 
schools into more intimate relations with the distinguished teachers in 
other institutions in the state, and to make their true character and con- 
dition better and more extensively known to the citizens. Such examin- 
ations would, they believe, operate as a healthful stimulus both to 
teachers and pupils, and, if made publicly, might lead to more thorough 
and effective examinations in the other schools in the state. 

The house for the Normal School, at West Newton, is situated in 
such immediate proximity to the Worcester railroad, that the exercises 
of the school are, at all seasons, seriously interrupted by the noise ; and, 
during the warmer months of the year, when the windows are required 
to be open, the inconvenience and loss of time are very considerable. 
The school, also, in consequence of its rapid increase, is now but poorly 
accommodated, although the house, when placed, not many years ago, at 
the disposal of the Board, was considered very ample. It is, therefore, 
much to be desired, that the Board should have the means of erecting a 
more commodious house, in a more retired and quiet situation. For the 
present building, the school was indebted to the munificence of a gentle- 
man who is willing to consent to its being disposed of for some other 
use, provided the benefit he intended to confer upon the school may be 
still enjoyed by it. The lot on which it stands is well situated for the 
purposes of business, and likely to meet with a ready sale. Landholders 
in the neighborhood have expressed a generous and liberal disposition 
toward the school; and there is a probability that a desirable lot could 
be obtained on favorable terms. Remembering that this was the earliest 
Normal School in America, that, being near the seat of government and 
the center of population of the state, and on one of the great lines of 
communication with the interior and with the west, it is frequently 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1850. gg 

visited by strangers who come to examine the Massachusetts school 
system, we confidently hope that the Legislature will consent to make 
such an appropriation as will enable the Board to erect a building which 
shall be, in all respects, internally and externally, creditable to the state, 
and worthy of the purpose for which it is erected. We should be glad 
to point it out to the visitor as a building which, in structure, arrange- 
ment, furniture, and apparatus, might be regarded as a model, and placed 
in a situation, the choice of which should not seem to have been left to 
accident or necessity. 

In their last Annual Report, the Board made known to the Legislature 
some regulations recently made in regard to the studies to be pursued at 
the Normal Schools. Among the advanced studies, they proposed to 
include " so much of chemistry as relates to the atmosphere, the waters. 
aod the growth of plants and animals." So much instruction in chem- 
istry as this, was thought desirable to be given, especially with reference 
to its application to agriculture, that the teachers educated at the expense 
of the state, may have some acquaintance with the principles of science, 
which lie at the foundation of the most essential and important of all the 
arts. To provide the means of giving instruction in this subject by 
lectures and experiments, it is desirable, in the view of the Board, that 
the annual appropriation for the support of the Normal Schools should 
be somewhat increased. 

In their last Annual Report, the Board had the pleasure of acknowl- 
edging a munificent bequest from the late Henry Todd, Esq., of Boston, 
made for the purpose of aiding the Normal Schools. On the 7th of 
June, 1850, Thomas P. Gushing, Esq., executor of Mr. Todd, paid into 
the hands of the treasurer of the commonwealth, as the amount of that 
bequest, the sum of $10,797 72. As it is known to have been the inten- 
tion of the donor to have the whole interest of his bequest appropriated 
so as to be a clear addition to what would otherwise have been at the 
disposal of the Board for the Normal Schools, the Board propose to use 
the interest of Mr. Todd's bequest in providing for stated annual examinr 
ations of these schools, and in such other ways as may seem best for 
their advancement and immediate usefulness." 



SCHOOL FUND 

" On the first of December, 1850, the school fund 

amounted to $958,921 19 

Having been increased, during the year, by the 

sum of . 74,580 45 

Of this fund, the sum of 218,559 73 

consists of land notes not productive, 

leaving the sum of 740.361 4Q 

productive, and so invested aa to yield about $40,000 for distribution 
among the towns for the support of schools. 

The school fund, it thus appears, has vei;y nearly "reached the limit 
($1,000,000) fixed by the act of 1843, by which it was estabhshed. 

The benefits which have been derived from the wise and economical 
use of this fund, are every where manifest in all the public schools of the 
commonwealth. As hitherto managed, the fund has been productive of 
unmixed good. The danger incident to a large fund for the benefit of 
schools is, that the people, relying upon this fund, shall neglect to take a 
personal interest in the support of the schools, in consequence of being 
relieved from the necessity of taxing themselves. But no evil of this 
kind has yet come near us. During the year 1850, 162 cities and towns 



70 



STATK NORMAL SCHOOLS IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1850. 



have raised more than twice the sum required by law to entitle them to 
their portion of the school fund. All the towns, except five, have raised 
more, and the greater part much more than the required sum ; two only- 
have raised just the required sum, and only two, out of 321 cities and 
towns, have fallen below that sum. A single town has made no return. 
The average of all the sums raised in the several towns and cities, for 
the instruction of the children between the ages of five and fifteen years, 
is nearly three times the sum required by law. Thrice the sum required 
by law would be $4 50 for each child. The aggregate actually raised is 
$4 42 for each. It thus appears that the effect of this bounty of the 
state has been most beneficent, and nothing but beneficent, so far as can 
be judged from the sums voluntarily raised for the support of schools. 
In view of the benefits thus accruing to the great interest of which they 
have charge, the Board can not but look with favor upon a proposition 
which promises to enhance and prolong these benefits, by widening the 
limit within which the school fund is now prospectively confined. 

And this provision they deem the more important, as the time may 
come when the sale of the public lands, from a moiety of the proceeds of 
which appropriations for educational purposes are now drawn, shall cease 
to be productive. 

The charges made upon these proceeds during the past year, have 
been: 



The grant made to Amherst College, 

For the Normal Schools, .... 

For Teachers' Institutes, .... 

The Massachusetts Teachers' Association, 

County Teachers' Association, . 

School District Libraries, . 

Salary of the Secretary of the Board, 

Salary of Clerk and Assistant Librarian 

Agents of the Board of Education, . 

Expenses of the Board of Education, 

Incidental expenses of the Secretary, 

Expenses of the office. 

Expenses of the Annual Reports of the Board and 

Secretary, 

Expenses of the Committee on Education, 



$5,000 00 

7,500 00 

3,050 00 

150 00 

550 00 

320 00 

1,600 00 

1.266 67 

iJOOS 33 

224 49 

157 30 

664 29 

3,930 73 
246 80 

$25,668 61 



WEST NEWTON NORMAL SCHOOL. 

ExTRiCT from the Report of the Committee of Visitors of the West Nezoton 
Normal School. 

"The whole number of pupils connected with the school, during the year, is 132. 
The greatest number at any time, 102 ; the least, 70. The average age at entrance 
was 18 years. The number of towns represented is 45. Hampshire County sends 
one pupil; Worcester, two; Barnstable, two; Nantucket, two; Franklin, three; 
Plymouth, three ; Essex, six ; Norfolk, fifteen ; Middlesex, thirty ; and Suffolk, 
fifty-seven. Eleven pupils are from other states ; from Rhode Island, one ; Maine, 
three ; Vermont, three ; New Hampshire, fom\ 

Of the parents of these pupils, 23 are farmers, 21 merchants, 8 carpenters, 4 ship- 
masters, 3 clergymen, 3 custom-house officers, 3 superintendents of railroads, 2 
physicians, 2 editors ; 29 are widows ; 5 pupils are orphans ; and the pursuits of 
the remainder are distributed among almost all the occupations known in our com- 
munity. 



WEST NEWTON NORMAL SCHOOL. 



71 



Fifty-five young ladies have graduated, after having honorably completed the 
term prescribed for pupils at this institution. 

Two classes have been received during the year. For the first, fifty-seven candi- 
dates presented themselves for examination, and forty-seven were received. The 
average age of this class, at entrance, was 18| years. For the second class, forty- 
seven candidates presented themselves, and thirty-seven were admitted. The num- 
ber of pupils who have remained at the school for a longer time than that required 
by the rules of the school, is 44. The number pledged to a thi'ee years' course 
is 12. 

Besides the usual studies, the pupils have had the benefit of twenty-one lectures 
on educational and scientific subjects, which have been delivered gratuitously to' the 
school, by gentlemen eminent in their various departments. 

In regard to the model school connected with this institution, the committee beg 
leave to make an extract from the repoi't of the principal, made at the close of the 
term, in December. 

He says : — " By an agreement entered into between the District No. 7, Oi 
Newton, and the principal of this institution, on the 7th of December last, the gram- 
mar school of the district became connected with the State Normal School, as its 
model department. By the terms of the agreement, the district furnishes school- 
room, &c., and one permanent male teacher, approved by both parties, and allow 
such addition to their number, by pupils from abroad, on a small tuition, as circum- 
stances justify. The State Normal School furnishes a portion of apparatus, &c., 
and two assistant teachers, each to observe one week previous to teaching, and to 
teach two weeks under constant supervision. The number of young ladies who 
have been thus employed, during the year, is 35 ; the whole number of pupils for 
the year, in the model school, is 125 ; the number from abroad, 50 ; the average 
age of the pupils, 14 years. 

By an additional agreement between the same parties, the primary school of this 
village became also connected with the State Normal School, May 1, 1850. Since 
this time, the insti'uction and management of this school have mainly devolved upon 
pupils of this institution, under the direction of the permanent teacher of the gram- 
mar department. Teachers have been furnished on the same principle as to the 
other school. The number of teachers furnished to the primary school, is 22 ; the 
whole number of pupils is 75, and their average age, 7 years. 

The model school has continued under its former permanent teacher, Mr. Allen, 
who has greatly distinguished himself as a successful educator, and who is worthy 
of great commendation for the earnestness and faithfulness with which he has devoted 
himself to the interest both of the district and of this institution. It is enough, per- 
haps, to say of the model school, that its efficiency has been continually increasing, 
and that, in the opinion of those competent to judge of it, it has already a rank con- 
siderably above the average of schools of the same grade elsewhere. 

It was expected that the arrangement with the primary department would be a 
temporary one, each party reserving the right to give it up at any time. It is the 
opinion of the school committee of the town, and of the permanent teacher of the 
model school, as it is my own, that the experiment has proved eminently successful, 
and that the general character of the school has essentially improved. It is, how- 
ever, our opinion, that a still better arrangement may now be properly made for it, 
by giving it one permanent female teacher, and an assistant from this school." 

On another topic, the principal says in his report — " It is believed that, without a 
single exception, the 1 32 pupils at the school, this year, have had not only an honest 
and steady purpose to become teachers, but have a strong desire to do good in this 
most excellent way. 

Of the fifty-five graduates, which includes those who leave us to-day, the greater 
portion are already engaged in the work ; several have places secured, which they 
are expecting to occupy in a few days ; several more continue yet longer here, and 
a small number only wait for an opportunity to teach." 

The committee are gratified to be able to state, that notwithstanding the rule 
adopted by the Board at its last annual meeting, by which no pupil, " except those 
of more than ordinary experience and attainments, can be received into this school 
for a less period than four consecutive terms," and the further regulation restricting 
examinations for admission to the commencement of two instead of three terms in 



Y2 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT WESTFIELD. 

the year, tlie number of pupils lias not diminished ; a result which shows the public 
appreciation of the advantages afforded by the Normal Schools for the education of ^ 
teachers. 

Two examinations of this school have been made by the committee, during the 
year — one in April, and one in December — both of wMch, conducted in a mannei* 
which precluded the idea of special preparation for the occasion, were highly satis- 
factory. 

The committee having ordered, for the use of the school-house, one of Mr. Chil- 
son's furnaces, were informed, when they waited on him for the purpose of paying 
for it, that the bill was canceled ; Mr. Chilson desiring in this way to express the 
interest he felt in the Normal Schools. The committee desire gratefully to acknowl- 
edge this gratuity, coming as it does from a gentleman to whom the public are 
greatly indebted for improvements in warming and ventilating apparatus for private 
houses, churches, and schools." 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT WESTFIELD. 
Extract from the Report of the Visitors of th School. 

"" The number of pupils in this school has been somewhat diminished, by requir- 
ing those who enter to remain three terms instead of two. The whole number for the 
yeai' ending November, 1850, was 119 ; the whole number for the year previous was 
148. It was expected the number would be reduced, and in fact it seemed neces- 
sary it should be :; for the school-room had become crowded. By prolonging the 
time of continuance, those who go out from the school hereafter wUl be better quali- 
fied for their work. 

Tile average age of the pupils, the last term, was 22 years. A large proportion 
of them had taught more or less. Two have attended, the last year, who have 
taught twenty t«rms each ; and a large number that have taught from five to ten 
terms. 

The wages of teachers have very much increased within three years. Several 
young men are receiving $40 per month, and board themselves, instead of $25 and 
$30 ; and several young ladies are receiving $3.50 per week, and board, instead 
of $2. 

The pupils during the last year have been from the following counties : — From 
Berkshire, 18; from Hampden, 41; from Hampshire, 12; from Fi'anklin, 15; 
from Worcester, 15 ; from Middlesex, 5 ; from Essex, 2 ; from Norfolk, 3 ; from 
Bristol, 1 ; from other states, 7. 

Mr. D. S. Rowe, the principal, is assisted by Mr. E. G. Beckwith, a graduate of 
college, and Miss J. E. Avery. The instruction is thorough and accurate, and the 
discipline good. 

The number of males in the school, the last yeai", has been 31, and the number 
of females, 88. 

The pupils, with very few exceptions, have redeemed their pledge to teach in the 
schools of this Commonwealth ; and as great a proportion of them as could reason- 
ably be .expected, are excellent teachers." 

The visitors of this school are Rev. E. Davis, D.D., of Westfield, and 
Rev. Mark Hopkins D.D,, President of Williamstown College. 



DR. SEARS' REPORT FOR 1850. ^3 

EXTRACT 

FROM THE 

Fourteenth Annual Report of the Secretary {Rev. Barnas Sears, D. D.) of the 
Board of Education. 

The State Normal Schools are in a flourishing and prosperous condition. 
Notwithstanding the increased rigor exercised in the examination of candidates 
for admission, and the extension, in two of them, of the required period of study, 
the numbers in attendance are about as large as ever. The fears entertained 
by many, that the increase of expense, occasioned by a more protracted course 
of study, would materially diminish the attendance, are shown to be groundless. 
The sentiment in favor of a professional education for teachers is becoming so 
strong in the community, and the public mind is becoming so enlightened in 
respect to the character of the teachers required, and the policy to be pursued 
in the choice of them and in remunerating their services, that teachers are com- 
pelled either to go through a more thorough course of preparation, or abandon 
the occupation. In order to keep even pace with the progress of public opinion 
in regard to an improved system of education, the Normal Schools will need 
to be gradually elevated till they shall reach that point which is best adapted 
to teachers designed for the common district school. It will be a question 
worthy of mature deliberation, whether the higher position designed to be given 
to the Normal Schools, shall not be attained rather by raising the requisitions 
for entrance than by prolonging the term of study. I see no good reason why 
the state should be at the expense of giving, in the Normal Schools, so much 
of that kind of instruction for which ample provision is already made in the 
higher public schools. The Normal Schools, to answer their original design, 
must aim more at furnishing that peculiar training which teachers require, and 
which the public schools can not give. Then the necessity of their existence 
will be apparent to all, and no other schools or institutions will complain of 
being forced into competition with those which enjoy state patronage. A por- 
tion of the time which is now spent in teaching the elements of arithmetic, 
grammar, geography, reading and orthography, might be saved for those higher 
objects for which more particularly Normal Schools were established. Before 
many years more shall have passed away, three classes, each having a half 
year's course of study, might be formed in these schools. The first might be 
devoted to a critical review and thorough mastery of the studies to he taught in 
common schools, with such collateral branches as should be deemed necessary, 
the second, to a philosophical and systematic course of instruction in didactics, 
or the theory of teaching ; the third, to the practice of teaching under the im- 
mediate and constant inspection of a superior. The arrangement here pro- 
posed would require that a greater degree of attention be paid to the model 
schools. But it would remove the embarrassment now caused by the interrup- 
tion of the studies of the class, portions of which are called away to teach, and 
would render the time spent in teaching in the model school much more profit- 
able both to teacher and pupil. The model school, which may just as well be 
one of the public schools as any other, should have its own full corps of teach- 
ers. The notion of employing pupils from the Normal School, in rotation, in 
place of an assistant teacher, merely because it is more economical, is unwor- 
thy of the liberal policy of the state. When a member of the Normal School 
enters the model school, the regular teacher or teachers of the latter should not 
be relieved at all from duty. On the contrary, such teacher should proceed as 
usual, and the learner should stand by and carefully observe the process, and 
afterward inquire for the i;easons of it, if they should not be fully understood at 
the time. After a suitable period of observation, the learner should undertake 
to give a lesson, or some part of one, the principal teacher standing by, noticing 
the manner in which the instruction is given, and being ready at any moment 
to resume the exercise. Two important objects would be gained by such an 
arrangement. First, the school itself would not suffer in its interests from sur- 
rendering its classes to be experimented on by young teachers, but would rather 
be benefited by having all its exercises conducted with reference to illustrating 
the best methods of teaching. In the second place, the learner would occupy 
the place of an apprentice, working every moment under the observation and 
guidance of a master. 



f^A DR. SEARS' REPORT FOR 1850. 

Provision has recently been made for advanced classes in the Norma! 
Schools, and several persons have availed themselves of it during the past 
year. It is evident that the number of such will be constantly increasing, and 
will require more of the teacher's time than can be given them Avithout abstract- 
ing it too much from the regular classes. If such an appendage is to be perma- 
nently attached to the Normal Schools, it will be necessary to enlarge the 
number of instructors to correspond with the additional amount of labor im- 
posed. Perhaps no better course can be recommended for the present. A 
question of great importance, however, here presents itself for consideration, 
namely, whether it would not be expedient to make one of our Normal Schools, 
— that at Bridgewater, for example, — exclusively a school for males, designed 
to form a higher class of teachers for a corresponding grade of schools. Then 
each Normal School would have its distinctive character, that at West Newton 
being for females only, and that at Westfield for both sexes, and every person, 
who should wish to enjoy the advantages of a Normal School training, could 
find a school adapted to his particular wants. The difference between the 
common district school, and the central school of our more populous towns and 
grammar school of the cities, is becoming so great, that it is no longer possible 
to look to the same class of individuals for teachers in them all. Besides, the 
law requiring the establishing of high schools, is rapidly creating a demand for 
a description of teachers which none of our institutions furnish. The colleges 
do not educate men with reference to the business of teaching. A young grad- 
uate, without any experience in teaching, is but little better prepared to take 
charge of a high school than he is to practice at the bar. Nor do our Normal 
Schools give the amount of education requisite for teachers aspiring to a place 
in the high school. It is at this moment more dif&cult to procure suitable 
teachers for high schools than for any other class of schools. The choice or- 
dinarily lies between experienced teachers of limited education, and men of 
liberal education, who either have had no experience and yet wish to become 
teachers, or, having had some practice in teaching while earning the money to 
pay their college bills, wish now to earn still more to enable them to study a 
profession. It is not safe for towns to open high schools under such auspices, 
and few committees are willing to expose themselves and their enterprise to 
these hazards. 

II there were a Normal School of a higher order, persons, who had already 
received a good literary and scientific education elsewhere, might repair to it 
and attend exclusively to the theory and practice of teaching. Even graduates 
from the colleges, who propose to become teachers, would, in many instances, 
avail themselves of such opportunities for studying the art which they are to 
practice for life. An air exclusively professional would thus be given to the 
school, and a shorter period of attendance might suffice than would be neces- 
sary in the other Normal Schools. 



OUTLINE 

OF AN INSTITUTION FOR THE EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. 
BY JAMES G. CARTER. 



The following •outliBe constitutes Essay VI. of Essays on Popular Edu- 
cation, published by Mr. Carter in the Boston Patriot, with the signature of 
Franklin, in the winter of 1824-25. The series was commenced on the 17th 
of December, 1824; and the essay containing the outline was published on 
the 10th and I5th of February, 1825. 

It will do but little good for the Legislature of the State to make large ap- 
propriations directly for the support of schools, till a judicious expenditure of 
them can be insured. And in order to this, we must have skillful teachers at 
hand. It will do but little good to class the children till we have instructors 
properly prepared to take charge of the classes. It will do absolutely no good 
to constitute an independent tribunal to decide on the qualifications of teachers, 
while they have not had the opportunities necessary for coming up to the proper 
standard. And it wUl do no good to overlook and report upon their success, 
when we know beforehand that they have not the means of success. It would 
be beginning wrong, too, to build houses and to tell your young and inexperienced 
instructors to teach this or to teach that subject, however desirable a knowledge of 
such subjects might be, while it is obvious that they cannot know how, properly, 
to teach any subject. The science of teaching — for it must be made a science — is 
first, in the order of nature, to be inculcated. And it is to this point that the 
pubUc attention must first be turned, to eff^ect any essential improvement. 

And here let me remark upon a distinction in the qualifications of teachers, 
which has never been practically made ; though it seems astonishing that it has 
so long escaped notice. I allude to the distinction between the possession of 
knowledge, and the ability to communicate it to other minds. When we are 
looking for a teacher, we inquire how much he knows, not how much he can 
cmnmunicate ; as if the latter qualification were of no consequence to us. Now 
it seems to me that parents and children, to say the least, are as much inter- 
ested in the latter qualification of their instructor as in the former. 

Though a teacher cannot communicate more knowledge than he possesses, yet 
he may possess much, and still be able to impart but little. And the knowledge 
of Sir Isaac Newton could be of but trifling use to a school, whUe it was locked 
up safely in the head of a country schoolmaster. So far as the object of a school 
or of instruction, therefore, is the acquisition of knowledge, novel as the opinion 
may seem, it does appear to me that both parents and pupils are even more 
interested in the part of their teacher's knowledge which they will be likely to 
get, than in the part which they certainly cannot get. 

One great object in the education of teachers which it is so desirable on every 
account to attain, is to establish an intelligible language of communication be- 
tween the instructor and his pupil, and enable the former to open his head and 
his heart, and infuse into the other some of the thoughts and feeUngs which he 
hid there. Instructors and pupils do not understand each other. They do not 
speak the same language. They may use the same words ; but tliis can hardly 
be called the same language, while they attach to them such very different 
meanings. We must either, by some magic or supernatural power, bring chil- 
dren at once to comprehend all our abstract and difficult terms, or our teachers 
must unlearn themselves, and come down to the comprehension of children. One 
of these alternatives is only difficult, while the other is impossible. 

The direct, careful preparation of instructors for the profession of teaching, 
must surmount this difficulty ; and I doubt if there be any other way in which 



^Q MR. CARTER ON EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. 

it can be surmounted. When instructors understand their profession, that is, in 
a -word, -when they understand the philosophy of the infant mind, what powers 
are earliest developed, and what studies are best adapted to their development, 
then it will be time to lay out and subdivide their work into an energetic sys- 
tem of public instruction. Till this step toward a reform, wliich is preliminary 
in its very nature, be taken, every other measure must be adopted in the dark ; 
and, therefore, be liable to fail utterly of its intended result. Houses, and funds, 
and books are all, indeed, important ; but they are only the means of enabling 
the minds of the teachers to act upon the minds of the pupils. And they must, 
inevitably, fail of their happiest effects, till the minds of the teachers have been 
prepared to act upon those of their pupils to the greatest advantage. 

If, then, the first step toward a reform in our system of populaf education be 
the scientific preparation of teachers for the free schools, our next inquiry becomes. 
How can we soonest and most perfectly achieve an object on every account so 
desirable ? The ready and obvious answer is, establish an institution for the very 
.purpose. To my mind, this seems to be the only measure which will insure to 
the public the attainment of the object. It wUl be called a new project. Be it 
so. The concession does not prove that the project is a bad one, or a visionary, 
or an impracticable one. Our ancestors ventured to do what the world had 
never done before, in so perfect a manner, when they established the free schools. 
Let us also do what they have never so well done yet, and establish an institu- 
tion for the exclusive purpose of preparing instructors for them. Tliis is only a 
second part, a development or consummation of the plan of om* fathers. They 
foresaw the effect of universal intelligence upon national virtue and happiness ; 
and they projected the means of securing to themselves and to us universal edu- 
cation. They wisely did a new thing under the sun. It has proved to be a good 
thing. We now enjoy the results of their labors, and we are sensible of the en- 
joyment. Their posterity have praised them, loudly praised them, for the wis- 
dom of their efforts. Let us, then, with hints from them, project and accomplish 
another new thing, and confer as great a blessing on those who may come after 
us. Let us finish the work of our fathers, in regard to popular education, and 
give to it its full effect. Let us double, for we easily may, the happy influences 
of an institution which has already attracted so much notice from every part of 
our country, and drawn after it so many imitations, and send it, thus improved, 
down to posterity for their admiration. 

If a seminary for the purpose of educating teachers scientifically be essential 
in order to give the greatest efficacy to our system of popular education, then, 
in the progress of the discussion, the three following questions arise in the order' 
in which they are stated. By whom should the proposed institution be estab- 
lished ? What would be its leading features ? And what would be some of the 
peculiar advantages to the public wliich would i-esult from it ? To answer these 
several questions at length would require a book ; while I have, at present, only 
leisure to prepare one or two newspaper essays. A few hints, therefore, upon 
the above three topics are all that I dare profess to give, and more than I fear I 
can give, either to my own satisfaction or that of those readers who may have 
become interested in the subject. 

The institution, from its peculiar purpose, must necessarily be both literary 
and scientific in its character. And although, with its design constantly in view, 
we could not reasonably expect it to add, directly, much to the stock of what is 
now called literature, or to enlarge much the boundaries of what is now called 
science, yet, from the very nature of the subject to which it would be devoted, 
and upon which it would "be employed, it must in its progress create a kind of 
literature of its own, and open a new science somewhat peculiar to itself — the 
science of the development of the infixnt mind, and the science of communicating 
knowledge from one mind to another while m a different stage of matm-ity. The 
tendency of the inquiries which must be carried on, and the discoveries which 
would be constantly made, in a seminary for this new purpose, would be to give 
efficacy to the pursuits of other literary and scientific institutions. Its influence, 
therefore, though indirect, would be not the less powerful upon the ca,use of lit- 
erature and the sciences generally. These remarks may seem to anticipate an- 
other part of my subject ; but they are introduced here to show that a seminary 
for the education of teachers would stand, at least, on as favorable a footing in 



MR. CARTER ON EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. Y7 

relation to the public, as other literary and scientific institutions. It seems now 
to be believed that the Legislature of the State are the rightful proprietors of 
aU pubhc institutions for the diffusion of knowledge. And if they are of any, 
they certainly ought to be of one for such a purpose. Because there are none in 
which the pubhc would be more deeply interested. There are none which 
would tend so much to diffuse knowledge among the whole mass of the people. 
And this, as has been before remarked, is a solemn duty enjoined upon our gov- 
ernment by the constitution under wliich they are organized, and from Avhich 
they derive their authority. Besides, it is the iirst impulse of every government, 
operating as quickly and steadily as instinct, to provide for its own preservation. 
And it seems to be conceded on all hands, by the friends as well as the enemies 
of freedom, that a government Uke our own can only exist among a people gen- 
erally enhghtened ; the only question as to the permanency of free institutions 
being, whether it be possible to make and to keep the whole population of a 
nation so well educated as the existence of such institutions supposes and re- 
quu'es. 

Our government, therefore, are urged by every motive which the constitution 
can enjoin or self-preservation suggest, to see to it that knowledge is generally 
diffused among the people. Upon this subject of popular education, a free gov- 
ernment must be arbitrary ; for its existence depends upon it. The more igno- 
rant and degraded people are, the less do they feel the want of instruction, and 
the less will they seek it. And these are the classes of a community which 
always increase the fastest up to the very point, where the means of subsistence 
fail. So that if any one class of men, however small, be suffered as a body to 
remain in ignorance, and to allow thek fainilies to grow up without instruction, 
they will increase in a greater ratio, compared with their numbers, than the more 
enhghtened classes, till they have a preponderance of physical power. And 
when this preponderance becomes overwhelming, what hinders a revolution and 
an arbitrary government, by which the mind of a few can control the physical 
strength of the many ? 

If this reasoning be correct, a free government must look to it betimes, that 
popular ignorance does not gain upon them. If it do, there is a thistle in the 
vineyard of the republic, which will grow and spread itself in every direction, 
till it cannot be eradicated. The ignorant must be allured to learn by every 
motive wliich can be offered to them. And if they will not thus be allured, they 
must be taken by the strong arm of government and brought out, willing or 
unwilling, and made to learn, at least, enough to make them peaceable and good 
citizens. It would be well, indeed, if the possibihty could be held out to all of 
successfully aspiring to responsible stations in ' society. A faint hope is better 
than despair. And though only one chance in a thousand be favorable, even that 
is worth something to stimulate the young to greater efforts, to become worthy 
of distinction. The few who, under all the disadvantages which adverse circum- 
stances impose, can find their way by imtired perseverance to places of trust and 
influence m the republic, serve to give identity of feehng, of purpose, and pm-- 
suit to the whole. They harmonize and bind together all those different and 
distant classes of the community, between which fretful jealousies naturally 
subsist. 

These are hints, only, at an argument, perhaps unintelligible ones, to establish 
the principle, that free governments are the proprietors of all literary and scien- 
tific institutions, so far as they have the tendency to diffuse knowledge generally 
among the people. The free schools of Massachusetts, as the most efficient 
means of accomphshing that object, should therefore be the property and the 
pecuHar care of government. An argument wlU, at once, be drawn from tliese 
principles why they should assume the dkection of the schools, so far as to insm-e 
to the people over whom they are appointed to preside, competent teachers of 
them. And as this is the main purpose of the proposed institution, the reason- 
ing seems to be conclusive why they should be its proprietor, or, at least, its 
patron and protector. 

An institution for the education of teachers, as has been before intimated, 
would form a part, and a very important part, of the free-school system. It 
would be, moreover, precisely that portion of the system which should be rmder 
the direction of the State, whether the others are or not. Because we should 



IS 



MR. CARTER ON EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. 



thus secure at once, a uniform, intelligent, and independent tribunal for decisions 
on the qualifications of teachers. Because we should thus relieve the clergy of an 
invidious task, and insure to the public competent teachers, if such could be found 
or prepai-ed. An institution for this purpose -would become, by its influence on 
society, and particularly on the young, an engine to sway the pubHc sentiment, 
the public morals, and the public rehgion, more powerful than any other in the 
possession of goveriunent. It should, therefore, be responsible immediately to 
them. And they should carefully overlook it, and prevent its being perverted 
to other purposes, directly or indirectly, than those for which it is designed. It 
should be emphatically the State's institution. And its results would soon make 
it the State's favorite and pride, among other literary and scientific institutions. 
The Legislature of the State should, therefore, establish and build it up, without 
waiting for individuals, at great private sacrifices, to accomplish the work. Such 
would be the influence of an uistitution for the education of teachers ; and such 
is the growing conviction of the strength of early associations and habits, that it 
cannot be long before the work will be begun in some form. If it be not under- 
taken by the public and for public purposes, it will be undertaken by individu- 
als for private purposes. 

The people of Massachusetts are able and willing, yea, more than willing, they 
are anxious to do something more for popular education, for the diffusion of 
knowledge generally. The only questions with them are how and where can 
means be applied to the purpose to the greatest advantage. It may safely be 
submitted, by the friends of the free schools, to a repubhcan people and their 
republican government, which institutions on comparison most deserve the pub- 
lic bounty ; those whose advantages can be enjoyed but by a few, or those which 
are open to the whole population ; those which have for their main objects good 
that is remote, or those whose happy influences are felt at once, through the 
whole community. Which institutions deserve the first consideration, and the 
most anxious attention of a popular government, those which will place a few 
scholars and philologists upon a level with the Germans in a knowledge of Greek 
accents, or those which will put our whole people upon the level of enlightened 
men in their practical knowledge of common things ? These objects may all be 
important to us. But the former will be provided for by individuals ; the latter 
are the peculiar care of government. 

The next question, mentioned above, as arising in the progress of this discus- 
sion, was, what would be the leading features of an institution for the education 
of teachers. If the institution were to be founded by the State, upon a large 
scale, the following parts would seem to be obviously essential. 1. An appro- 
priate library, with a philosophical apparatus. 2. A principal and assistant pro- 
fessor in the different departments. 3. A school for children of different ages, 
embracing both those desiring a general education, and those designed particu- 
larly for teachers. 4. A Board of Commissioners, or an enlightened body of men 
representing the interests and the wishes of the public. 

1. A library should of course be selected with particular reference to the ob- 
jects of the institution. It would naturally and necessarily contain the approved 
authors on the science of education In its widest sense. It would embrace works 
of acknowledged merit in the various branches of literature and science intunately 
connected with education; such as anatomy and physiology, the philosophy of 
the human mind and heart, and the philosophy of language. 

Physical education forms a very essential part of the subject, and should be 
thoroughly understood. This branch Includes the development of all the organs 
of the body. And works upon the physiology of children should be added to the 
library. Books on gymnastics, containing directions for particular exercises 
adapted to the development of the several organs, belong to the library of the 
accomplished instructor, as well as to that of the surgeon. Indeed, If the former 
properly use them, they will enable him to give a firmness to the parts of the 
body which may, perhaps, supersede the necessity of the interference of the lat- 
ter to set them right in manhood. 

The philosophy of the Infant mind must be understood by the Instructor before 
much progress can be made In the science of education ; for a principal branch 
of the science consists in forming the mind. And the skill of the teacher in this 
department is chiefly to be seen in his judicious adaptation of means to the de- 



MR. CARTER ON EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. (79 

velopment of the intellectual faculties. Every book, therefore, -wliich -would aid 
in an analysis of the youthful mind, should be placed in the library of the pro- 
posed institution. 

The human heart, the philosophy of its passions and its affections, must be 
studied by those who expect to influence those passions, and form those affections. 
This branch of the subject includes the government of cliildren, especially in the 
earliest stages of their discipline. The success of the teacher here depends upon 
the good judgment with whicii he arranges and presents to his pupils the motives 
that will soonest move them, and most permanently influence their actions. The 
mistaken or wicked principles of parents and instructors, in this department of 
education, have, no doubt, perverted the dispositions of many hopeful children. 
If successful experience has been recorded, it should be brought to the assistance 
of those who must otherwise act without experience. 

Lastly, the study of the philosophy of language would be essential to the 
scientific teacher. The term language is not here understood to mean a class of 
words called Greek, or another class of words called Latin, or even that class of 
words which we call English. It means something more general, and sometliing 
which can hardly be defined. It embraces aU the means we use to excite in the 
minds of others the ideas which we have already in our own minds. These, 
whatever they are, are included in the general definition of language. Tliis is a 
great desideratum in our systems of education. We do not possess a language 
by which we can produce precisely the idea in a pupil which we have in our own 
mind, and which we wish to excite in his. And impatient and precipitate teach- 
ers quite often quarrel with their pupils, because they do not arrive at the same 
conclusions with themselves, when, if they could but look into their minds, they 
would find that the ideas with which they begin to reason, or which enter into 
their processes of reasoning, are altogether different. Every book or fact, there- 
fore, which would do any tiling to supply this desideratum, or enable the teacher 
better to understand precisely the idea which he excites in the mind of his pupils, 
should be collected in the instructor's Ubrary. 

2. The institution should have its principal and its assistant professors. The 
government and instruction of a seminary for the education of teachers would be 
among the most responsible situations which could be assigned to men in literary 
or scientific pursuits. As many of the objects of the institution would be new, 
so the duties of its instructors would also be new. JSTo commanding minds have 
gone before precisely in the proposed course, and struck out a path which others 
may easily follow. There are no rules laid down for the direction of those who 
will not think upon, or who cannot understand the subject. Men must, there- 
fore, be brought to the task who have the abiUty to observe accurately and to 
discriminate nicely. They must also collect the results of what experience they 
can from books and from others, in order to enable themselves to form some 
general principles for the direction of their pupils, who will go abroad to carry 
their improvements to others. It is not supposed for a moment that all who 
may receive instruction at the proposed institution with the intention of becom- 
ing teachers, will necessarily be made thereby adepts in the science, any more 
than it is believed that all who happen to reside four years within the walls of a 
college are necessarily made expert in the mysteries of syllogisms and the calcu- 
lus. But having seen correct general principles of education successfully reduced 
to practice, they may, at least, become artists in the profession, and be able to 
teach pretty well upon a system, the philosophy of which they cannot thoroughly 
comprehend. 

3. A school of children and youth of different ages and pursuing different 
branches of study would form an essential part of the institution. In the early 
stages of the education of children, the disciphne should consist almost wholly of 
such exercises as serve to develop the different faculties and strengthen all the 
powers of the mmd. And in the subsequent education of youth, when the disci- 
pline comes to consist partly in the development of the mind, and partly in the 
communication of knowledge, the course of instruction would be the same, 
whether the pupil were destined to be a teacher or not. The objects of the 
institution do not, therefore, become peculiar till after the pupil has acquired a 
certain degree of freedom and strength of mind ; nor till after he has made the 
acquisition of the requisite amount of knowledge for the profession of teacher. 



gQ MR. CARTER ON EDUCATION OP TEACHERS. 

Though a pupil -would necessarily imbibe a good deal of clearness and method in 
his intellectual exercises by submitting the direction of them to a skillful instruct- 
or, the study of the science of teaching cannot properly begin till he changes 
relations with those about him ; and, instead of following a course prescribed by 
another, and exhibiting the powers of his own mind without an effort to take 
cognizance of them, he assumes to look down upon humbler minds, to direct their 
movements, and to detect and classify the phenomena of their subtle workings. 

After the young candidate for an instructor, therefore, has acquired sufficient 
knowledge for directing those exercises and teaching those branches which he 
wishes to profess, he must then begin his labors under the scrutinizing eyes of 
one who will note his mistakes of government and faults of instruction, and cor- 
rect them. The experienced and skillful professor of the science will observe 
how the mind of the young teacher acts upon that of the learner. He will see 
how far and how perfectly they ujiderstand each other, and which is at fault if 
they do not understand each other at all. If the more inexperienced teacher 
should attempt to force upon the mind of a cliild an idea or a process of reason- 
ing for which it was not in a proper state, he would be checked at once, and told 
of his fault ; and thus, perhaps, the pupil would be spared a disgust for a par- 
ticular study, or an aversion to all study. As our earliest experience would in 
tliis manner be under the direction of those wiser than ourselves, it would the 
more easily be classed under general principles for our direction afterward. 
This part of the necessary course in an institution for the education of teachers 
might be much aided by lectures. Cliildren exhibit such and such intellectual 
phenomena ; the scientific professor of education can explain those phenomena, 
and tell from what they arise. If they are favorable, he can direct how they 
are to be encouraged and turned to account in the development and formation of 
the mind. If they are unfavorable, he can explain by what means they are to 
be overcome or corrected. Seeing intellectual results, he can trace them, even 
through complicated circumstances, to their causes : or, knowing the causes and 
circumstances, he can predict the result that will follow them. Thus every day's 
exjDerience would be carefully examined, and made to limit or extend the com- 
prehension of the general principles of the science. Is there any other process 
or method than tliis to arrive at a philosophical system of education ? If any 
occurs to other minds, it is to be hoped that the public may soon have the benefit 
of it. 

4. The fourth branch, which I mentioned above as constituting an important 
part of an institution for the education of teachers, was a Board of Commission- 
ers. Although they would, probably, have but Uttle to do with the immediate 
government and instruction of the institution, they would be valuable to it by 
representing the wishes of the community, and by bringing it more perfectly in 
contact with the public interests. Besides, it must occur to every one, that in 
the general management of such an establishment, many of the transactions would 
require characters and talents very diftereut from those that would, generally, 
be found in the principal or professors. Men might easUy be found who would 
lecture to admiration, and yet be wholly incompetent to assiune the general 
direction of the establishment. The professors, too, would always want assistance 
and authority in determining what acquisitions should be required for admission 
into the institution, and what proficiency should be deemed essential in the can- 
didates before leaving it to assume the business of teaching. Upon what princi- 
ples shall the school be collected ? How shall the privilege of attending as new 
learners in the science of education be settled upon applications from different 
parts of the State or country ? These and many similar questions would render 
a body of men, distinct from the professors, important to the institution. Many 
decisions, too, must necessarily be made, affecting individual and private inter- 
ests. This would be an invidious duty, and the instructors should be relieved 
from it as far as possible. It is confidently believed that the peculiar advan- 
tages to be enjoyed at such an institution by cliildren and youth generally, as 
well as by those designed for teachers, would command a price sufficient to de- 
fray nearly the whole expenses of the estabhshment. If not so, then might not 
each town send one or more young men to the institution to be properly educated 
for instructors, and require them in return to teach their pubfic schools to liqui- 
date the expense ? All these means, however, are subjects for future consider- 



MR. CARTER ON EDUCATION OF TEACHERS, gi 

ation, and are to be devised after the utility of the institution has been demon- 
strated. 

The peculiar advantages of an institution for the education of teachers would 
be far too numerous and too important to be either embraced or enforced in the 
space which remains for this topic. A few, therefore, of the most obvious ones 
are all that can here be alluded to. One advantage, and a very certain one, 
would be to raise the character of teachers generally ; and consequently, in the 
same degree, the character of the schools which they teach. Let us pause, for a 
moment, to consider to what an extent we are interested in every thing which 
affects our system of public instruction ; and hence derive a motive, before we 
pass on, to enforce attention to every suggestion for improvement in it. 

There were in the district of Massachusetts, according to the census of 1820, 
five hundred and twenty-three thousand one hundred and fifty-nine souls. Of 
this number, two hundred and forty-one thousand seven hundred and eleven 
were under the age of eighteen years. The numbers have since been much 
augmented. If the population has increased only as fast since the last census 
as it did between the census of 1810 and that of 1820, there are now, in round 
numbers, about two hundred and fifty thousand children and youth in Massa- 
chusetts under the age of eighteen years. This, it will be perceived, amounts to 
almost one -half of the whole number of souls. If we take from the older those 
between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, and add them to the younger part 
of the population, we shall find at least half, and probably more than half of the 
whole, under twenty-one years. 

These are all flexible subjects of education, in its most comprehensive sense ; 
though they are not all within the influence of that part of it which can be easily 
controlled by legislation, or indeed by any means except by an enlightened pub- 
lic oj)inion. A few of tliis great number have left the schools and aU direct 
means of education, and entered upon the active business of life. And a portion 
of the younger part of them are yet subjects only for domestic education. But 
after these deductions from the two extremes, it will not be extravagant to 
state, that one-third of the whole population are of a suitable age, have oppor- 
tunity, and do actually attend school some portion of the year. In Massachusetts 
we have not the means of knowing accurately the numbers of children and youth 
who attend our schools ; because we have no system of returns to any public au- 
thority, by which such facts can be ascertained. But I am confirmed in the be- 
lief that the above is not an extravagant estimate, by two circumstances. One 
of them is, several towns have been carefully examined, and this is about the 
proportion of the population found in their schools. And the other is, ofiicial 
documents and acknowledged authorities fiom the neighboring State of Connecti- 
cut informs us that one-third of the population attend their free schools a part of 
the year. And probably the same would be found to be true of New York, as 
well as of the remainder of the New England States. 

These are statistical facts. Others may reason upon them and draw what con- 
clusions they can, about immigration, the future prospects of New England, her 
comparative influence in the Union, and the facilities she affbrds for a manufac- 
turing district. They have been introduced here because they suggest motives 
stronger than any others, to enforce attention to our means of popular education. 
One-third of our whole population are now at that period of life when their 
principles and characters are rapidly forming. Habits, both moral and intellect- 
ual, are taking their direction, and acquiring the strength of age. In aU tliis, 
the schools must have a deep influence. Both the degree and the kind of influ- 
ence are, to a certain extent, within our control, and consequently depend upon 
our efforts. In twenty years, and surely twenty years are not beyond the ken 
of a tolerably clear-sighted politician, this part of our population wUl succeed to 
most of the responsible places and relations of their fathers. They must receive 
all that we have to leave for them. They must take our names, and attach to 
them honor or infamy. They must possess our fortunes, to preserve or disperse 
them. And they must inherit our free institutions, to improve, pervert, or de- 
stroy them. Here, then, are the strongest poUtical motives, as well as paternal 
affection, urging upon us attention to all the means of forming correctly the 
characters of those who are to receive from us our choicest blessings. And what 
means within our control can be devised more efficient for this purpose, than 

F 



g2 MR. CARTER ON EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. 

those primary seminaries for instruction, -where the mass of the people must 
receive several years of their education ? Find, if they are to be found, or create, 
if they are not now to be found, a class of teachers vjell skilled in their profes- 
sion, and put them into aU our free schools. What an effect would soon be pro- 
duced in their condition ! And what a renovating influence these same schools 
"would soon have upon the character of the "whole people "who have access to 
them ! 

But these are general advantages of a good class of teachers. I promised to 
speak of the peculiar advantages of the proposed institution to produce them. 
The hbrary, collected -with particular reference to the objects of the institution, 
"would contain the facts of the science of education scattered along in the history 
of the world. Facts are the materials of philosophy. And we cannot philoso- 
phize, safely, till we have an extensive stock before us. The hbrary would nat- 
urally collect, not only those phenomena relating to the subject which have 
already been observed, but also the records of those which must be daily passing 
before our eyes. Books connected with and collateral to the science will be as 
important to the purposes of the institution as those professedly written upon 
the subject. And frequently they will be found to be much more so. Because 
the former contain the facts and the phenomena, wliile the latter have only an 
author's reasonmg and conclusions upon tliem. And the authors who have writ- 
ten upon education, with very few exceptions, have reasoned speciously, but from 
very limited and imperfect inductions. So that then- conclusions, though they 
may be correct, as far as they had the necessaiy means of making them so, are 
liable to fail, totally, when reduced to practice under circumstances a little dif- 
ferent from those from which the principles have been formed. We want more 
experience before we begin to reason at large and to draw sweeping conclusions 
on the subject. And our library would be chiefly valuable as containing that 
experience, or the results of it, accurately and authentically recorded. 

But the conclusions of writers on the subject, though received and repeated 
by every body, are not binding and beyond question, till we know that the facts 
from which they reasoned are all which can affect the principles that they de- 
duce from them. And to believe that the experience of two thousand years, 
embracing the present age, which is so full of phenomena of all kinds, has not 
added something to our means of a copious and safe induction to principles of 
education, requires a stretch of credulity with which my mind is not gifted. It 
will be safer, as a general rule, to assume that they teach us what to avoid, rather 
than what to imitate. 

When we have collected the means of reasoning correctly, which books can 
afford, and added to them the living materials of philosophy, which will be con- 
stantly exhibited in the school which is to form a part of the institution, we are 
to place all these before instructors of discriminating minds, who are able and 
willing to observe as well as to reason. We are, then, to turn the public attention 
toward them in good earnest, and let them see that something is expected from 
them. There is a moral certainty, under such circumstances, that the expecta- 
tion will be gratified. When the public attention is turned toward any subject, 
all the ardent and discriminating minds act in concert. And like the rays of the 
sun converged to a point by a lens, they act with an intensity which must pro- 
duce an effect. 

It would be a natm-al result of the proposed institution to organize the teach- 
ers into a more distinct profession, and to raise the general standard of their intel- 
lectual attainments. It would therefore concentrate and give energy and direc- 
tion to exertions and inquiries, which are now comparatively wasted for want of 
such direction. No one, indeed, can now foresee, precisely, what effect would 
be produced upon our systems of education and principles of mstruction by sub- 
jecting them to such an ordeal. To foretell the improvements that would be 
made, would be to make them, and supersede the necessity of an institution for 
the purpose. Though the necessity would still remain for some sunilar means 
to propagate them among the people. But if our principles of education, and 
particularly our principles'of government and instruction, are not already perfect, 
we may confidently expect improvements, though we may not know, precisely, 
in what they will consist. 

Many persons knew twenty years ago that steam was expansive. But who 



ME. CARTER ON EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. g3 

foresaw tlie degree to wliich its expansion could be raised, or the purposes to 
which it could be apphed ? Public attention was turned to the subject in earnest, 
and we now see vessels moving in every direction by its power. It was knowr» 
long since that light wood would float, and water run down hill. But who fore- 
saw, twenty years ago, the present state of our internal improvement by means 
of canals ? Pubhc attention and powerful minds were directed to the subject, 
and we now see boats ascending and descending our mountains, and traversmg 
our continent in every direction. Those who were before almost our antipodes, 
have now, by the facilities of communication, become our neighbors. The most 
intrepid prophet would hardly have dared, even ten years ago, to predict the 
present state of oiu- manufactories. This has all been done, because it could be 
done, and many minds were turned to the subject, and resolved that it should be 
done. All these are in many respects analogous cases, and go to show that we 
do not always know how near to us important improvements are ; and that it is 
only necessary to direct the public attention to a subject in order to insure some 
inventions in it. 

A great variety of other peculiar advantages to the public, it occurs to me, 
must arise fi'om an institution for the education of teachers. But I have confined 
myself to those only which seemed to be the most striking and important. All 
others will be found to be mvolved, in a great degree, or wholly, in those which 
I have stated. And although to enumerate them might add some new motivee 
for attention to the subject, they could not strengthen much the argument in 
favor of an institution somewhat like that which has been above described. I 
must now take my leave of the subject for the present ; my only regrets being 
that I have not had ability to do more justice to the several topics which I have 
discussed, nor time to do more justice to my own views of them. 

Mr. Carter commenced his public labors in the cause of popular edu- 
cation by the publication of " Letters to the Hon. William Prescott, LL.D., 
on the Free Schools of New England., with Bemarks on the Principles 
of Instruction,^'' in 1824. In the same year he commenced in the Boston 
Patriot, over the signature of " Franklin," a series of Essays on Popular 
Education, which were subsequently published, in a pamphlet form, in 
1826. In this series of essays he first gave to the public his plan of a 
Teachers' Seminary. These essays, and particularly, his views on the 
principles of education as a science, and his outline of an institution for the 
education of teachers, attracted much attention. They were very ably 
and favorably reviewed in the United States Review, edited by The- 
ophilus Parsons, and of which Journal Mr. Carter, on its being united 
with the Literary Gazette, became editor, and devoted a portion of the 
columes to an advocacy of educational improvements before the public. 
The essays were made the basis of an article in the North American 
Review, for 1827, by Prof. Ticknor, and through that article his plan 
wasmade known to the English public. Prof Bryce, in his " Sketch of a 
Plan for a System of National Education for Ireland,^'' published in 
London, in 1828, speaks of the "outline," as the "first regular publication 
on the subject" of the professional education of teachers which he had 
heard of 

In 1827, Mr. Carter presented a memorial to the Legislature, praying 
for aid in the establishment of a seminary for the education of teachers 
with a model school attached. The memorial was favorably reported on 
by a committee, of which the Hon. William B. Calhoun, of Springfield, 
Mass., was chairman, and a bill, making an appropriation, was lost by one 
vote in the Senate. In that year, the town of Lancaster appropriated a 



g^ MR. CARTER ON EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. 

portion of land, and the use. of an academy building, to aid him in carry- 
ing out his plan as a private enterprise. He purchased several dwelling- 
houses to accommodate his pupils and teachers with lodgings and board, 
hired assistants who were to be taught by himself on his plan, and 
opened his school. Within a few months after his school opened, the 
people of Lancaster, who did not comprehend the full and ultimate pub- 
lic benefits of the new institution, began to manifest opposition, and threw 
such obstacles in his way, that he was obliged to abandon his project, 
as a public enterprise, after having embarrassed himself by his pecu- 
niary outlays for buildings and teachers. He, however, continued to give 
instruction for many years afterward to private pupils, many of whom 
are now successful teachers in different parts of the Union. 

In 1830, Mr. Carter assisted in the establishment of the American In- 
stitute of Instruction, of which he was for many years an officer and an 
active member. At its first session he delivered a lecture on " the de- 
velopment of the intellectual faculties," in which he treats of education 
as a science ; and in 1831, he gave another lecture on " the necessity and 
most practicable means of raising the qualifications of teachers." 

In 1835, and for several j^ears afterward, he was a member of the Le- 
gislature, and in that position, as chairman of the Committee of Educa- 
tion, drafted several able reports and bills, to promote the cause of educa- 
tional improvement. During his first term, he secured the appropriation 
of three hundred dollars a year in aid of the objects of the American In- 
stitute of Instruction. In the same session he submitted an elaborate 
report in favor of " an Act to provide for the better instruction of youth, 
employed in manufacturing establishments," — which the Hon. Rufus 
Choate characterized as " a measure of large wisdom and expanded be- 
nevolence, which makes it practicable and safe for Massachusetts to grow 
rich by manufacture and by art." In 1836, as chairman of the same 
committee, he reported a bill for the appointment of a Superintendent of 
Common Schools, and advocated the establishment of a seminary for the 
professional education of teachers. 

In 1837, Mr. Carter made a vigorous effort in the House to secure the 
appropriation of one half of the United States Surplus Revenue, for the 
education of Common School teachers. His speech, on the second of 
February, for this object, is an able exposition of the claims of Cree 
schools for efficient and liberal legislation, and of the necessity of an 
institution devoted exclusively to the appropriate education of teachers 
for them. His amendment was lost ; but he had the satisfaction, at a 
later period of the session, to draft the bill, establishing the Board of 
Education, which was adopted. Gov. Everett nominated Mr. Cartel 
the first member of the Board. 



MEMORIAL 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION TO THE LEGISLATURE OF 

MASSACHUSETTS ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

(Suhmitted January^ 1837.) 



To THE HONOEABLE THE LEGISLATURE 

OF THE Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

The Memorial of the Directors of the American Institute of Instruction, praying 
that provision may he made for the better preparation of the teachers of the 
schools of the Commonwealth, respectfully showeth : 

That there is, throughout the Common-wealth, a great want of well-qualified 
teachers : 

That this is felt in all the schools, of all classes, but especially in the most im- 
portant and numerous class, the district schools : 

That wherever, in any town, exertion has been made to improve these schools, 
it has been met and baffled by the want of good teachers; that they have been 
sought for in vain ; the iiighest salaries have been offered, to no purpose ; that 
they are not to be found in sufficient numbers to supply the demand : — 

That their place is supplied by persons exceedingly incompetent, in tnany 
respects ; by young men, in the course of their studies, teaching from necessity, 
and often with a strong dislike for the pursuit ; by meclaanics and others wanting 
present employment ; and by persons who, having failed in other calhngs, take 
to teaching as a last resort, with no qualifications for it, and no desire of continu- 
ing in it longer than they are obliged by an absolute necessity : — 

That those among this number wlio have a natural fitness for the work, now 
gain the , experience, without whicli no one, whatever liis gifts, can become a good 
teacher, by the sacrifice, winter after winter, of the time and advancement of 
the children of the schools of the Commonwealth : 

That every school is now liable to have a winter's session wasted by the un- 
skillful attempts of an instructor, makLag his first experiments in teaching : By the 
close of the season, he may have gained some insight into the mystery, may liave 
hit upon some tolerable method of discipline, may have grown somewhat famil- 
iar with the books used and with tlie character of the children ; and, if he could 
go on in the same school for successive years, might become a profitable teacher : 
but whatever he may have gained himself, from his experiments, he wiU have 
failed too entirely of meeting the just expectations of the district, to leave him 
any hope of being engaged for a second term: He accordingly looks elsewhere 
for the next season, and the district receives another master, to have the existing 
regulations set aside, and to undergo another series of experiments : We do not 
state the fact too strongly, when we say, that the time, capacities, and opportuni- 
ties of thousands of the children are now sacrificed, lointer after lointer, to the 
p-eparation of teachers, who, after tliis enormous sacrifice, are, notwithstanding, 
often very wretchedly prepared : 

That many times, no preparation is even aimed at : that such is the known 
demand for teachers of every kind, with or without qualifications, that candi- 
dates present themselves for the employment, and committees, in despair of 
finding better, employ them, who have no degree of fitness for the Avork : that 
committees are obliged to employ, to take charge of theu children, men to whose 
incompetency they would reluctantly commit their farms or their workshops : 

That the reaction of this deplorable incompetency of the teachers, upon the 
minds of the committees, is hardly less to be deplored, hardly less alarming, as 
it threatens to continue the evil and render it perpetual : Finding they cannot 
get suitable teachers at any price, they naturally apportion the salary to the 
value of the service rendered, and the consequence is, that, in many places, the 
■wages of a teacher are below those given in the humblest of the mechanic arts ; 



86 



MEMORIAL ON NOPx-MAL SCHOOLS— 1837. 



and instances are known, of persons of tolerable qualifications as teachers, de- 
cliiaing to quit, for a season, some of the least gainful of the trades, on the gi'ound 
of the lowness of the teachers' pay. 

We merely state these facts, without enlarging upon them, as they have 
already too great and melancholy a notoiiety. We but add our yoice to the 
deep tone of grief and complaint which sounds from every part of the State. 

We are not surprised at this condition of the teachers. We should be sur- 
prised if it were much otherwise. 

Most of the winter schools are taught for about three months in the year ; the 
summer not far beyond four. They are, therefore, of necessity, taught, and must 
continue to be taught, by persons who, for two-thirds or tlii'ee-fourths of the 
year, have other pursuits, in quaUfying themselves for which they have spent 
the usual period, and wliich, of course, they look upon as the main business of 
their lives. They cannot be expected to make great exertions and expensive 
preparation for the work of teachmg, in which the standard is so low, and for 
wljich they are so poorly paid. 

Whatever desire they might have, it would be almost in vam. There are 
now no places suited to give them the instruction they need. 

For every other profession requiring a knowledge of the principles of science 
and the conclusions of experience, there are special schools and colleges, with 
learned and able professors, and ample apparatus. For the preparation of the 
teachers, there is almost none. In every other art ministering to the wants and 
conveniences of men, masters may be found ready to impart whatsoever of skill 
they have to the willing apprentice ; and the usage of society justly requires 
that years should be spent under the eye of an adept, to gain the requisite ability. 
An apprentice to a schoolmaster is known only in tradition. 

We respectfully maintam that it ought not so to be : so much of the intelli- 
gence and character, the welfare and immediate and future happiness of all the 
citizens, now and hereafter, depends on the condition of the common schools, that 
it is of necessity a matter of the dearest interest to all of the present genera- 
tion ; that the common education is to such a degree the palladium of our liber- 
ties, and the good condition of the common schools, in which that education is 
chiefly obtained, so vitaUy important to the stability of our State, to our very 
existence as a free State, that it is the most proper subject for legislation, and 
calls loudly for legislative provision and protection. The common schools ought 
to be raised to their proper place ; and this can only be done by the better edu- 
cation of the teachers. 

We maintain that provision ought to be made by the State for the education 
of teachers ; because, while their education is so important to the State, theu- 
condition generally is such as to put a suitable education entirely beyond their 
reach ; because, by no other means is it likely that a system shall be introduced, 
which shall prevent the immense annual loss of tune to the schools, from a change 
of teachers; and because, the qualifications of a first-rate teacher are such as 
cannot be gained but by giving a considerable time wholly to the work of prep- 
aration. 

In liis calling, there is a peculiar difficulty in the fact, that whereas, in other 
callings and professions, duties and difficulties come on gradually, and one by 
one, giving ample time, in the intervals, for special preparation, in his they all 
come at once. On the first day on which he enters the school, his difficulties 
meet him with a single, unbroken, serried front, as numerously as they ever will ; 
and they refuse to be separated. He cannot divide and overcome them singly, 
putting off the more formidable to wrestle with at a future time ; he could only 
have met them with complete success, by long forecast, by months and years of 
preparation. 

The qualifications requisite in a good teacher, of which many liave so low and 
inadequate an idea, as to tliink them almost the instinctive attributes of every 
man and every woman, we maintain to be excellent quaUties, rarely united in a 
high degree in the same individual, and to obtain which one must give, and may 
well give, much time and study. 

We begin with the lowest. He must have a thoronyh hnowledge of whatever 
he undertakes to teach. If it were not so common, how absm-d would it seem, 
that one should undertake to communicate to another fluency and grace in the 



MEMORIAL ON NORMAL SCHOOLS— 1837. Qlj 

beautiful accomplishment of reading, -without having them himself; or to give 
skill in the processes of ai'ithmetic, while he understood it so dimly himself as 
to be obliged to follow the rules, as blindly as the cliild he was teaching ! And 
yet, are there not many teachers yearly employed by committees, from the im- 
possibihty of finding better, who, in reading and aritlmietic, as in every tiling 
else, are but one step before, if tliey do not fall behind, the foremost of theh* own 
pupils ? Is it not so in geography, m English grammar, in every thing, in short, 
which is now requhed to be taught ? 

If the teaclier understood thorouglily what is required in the usual, prescribed 
course, it would be something. But we maintain that the teachers of the pubUc 
schools ought to be able to do much more. In every school occasions are daily 
occmTing, on which, from a well-stored mind, could be imparted, upon the most 
interesting and important subjects, much that would be of the greatest value to 
the learner, at the impressible period of his pupilage. Ought not these occasions 
to be provided for ? Besides, there are always at least a few forward pupils, 
full of talent, ready to make advances far beyond the common course. Such, if 
their teacher could conduct them, would rejoice, instead of circhng again and 
again in the same dull round, to go onward, in other and higher studies, so mani- 
festly valuable, that the usual studies of a school seem but as steps, intended to 
lead up to them. 

In the second place, a teacher should so understand the ordering and discipline 
of a school, as to be able at once to introduce system, and to keep it constantly 
in force. Much precious time, as already stated, is lost in making, changing, ab- 
rogating, modeling and remodeUng rules and regulations. And not only is the 
time xMerly lost, but the changes are a source of perplexity and vexation to mas- 
ter and pupil. A judicious system of regulations not only takes up no time, but 
saves time for every thing else. We beheve there are few persons to whom this 
knowledge of system comes without an eifort, who are borti with such an apti- 
tude to order that they fall into it naturally and of course. 

In the third place, a teacher should know hoio to teach. This, we believe, is 
the rarest and best of liis qualifications. Without it, great knowledge, however 
pleasant to the possessor, will be of httle use to his pupils ; and with it, a small 
fund will be made to produce great effects. It cannot, with propriety, be con- 
sidered a single faculty. It is rather a practical knowledge of tlie best methods 
of bringing the truths of the several subjects that are to be taught, to the com- 
prehension of the learner. Not often does the same method apply to several 
studies. It must vary with the nature of the trutlis to be communicated, and 
with the age, capacity, and advancement of the pupil. To possess it fully, one 
must have ready command of elementary principles, a habit of seeing them in 
various points of view, and of promptly seizing the one best suited to the learner ; 
a power of awakening his curiosity, and of adaptmg the lessons to the mind, so 
as to bring out its faculties naturally and without violence. It therefore sup- 
poses an acquaintance with the minds of cliildren, the order in which theh facul- 
ties expand, and by what discipUne they may be nm'tured, and their inequalities 
repaired. 

This knowledge of the human mind and character may be stated as a fourth 
quaUfication of a teacher. Without it, he will be always groping his way dai'kly. 
He win disgust the forward and quick-witted, by making them linger along with 
the slow ; and dishearten the slow, by expecting them to keep pace with the 
swift. He wiU fail of the peculiar end of right education, the quickening to life 
and action those faculties which, without his fostering care, would have been 
left to he dormant. 

Whoever considers to how great a degree the successful action of the mind 
depends on the state of the feehngs and affections, will be ready to admit that 
an instructor should know so much of tlie connection and subordination of the 
parts of the human character, as to be able to enhst them all in the same cause, 
to gain the .heart to the side of advancement, and to make the affections the min- 
isters of truth and wisdom. 

We have spoken very briefly of some of the quahfications essential to a good 
teapher. It is hardly necessary to say, that there are still higher qualifications, 
which ought to belong to the persons who are to have such an influence upon the 
character and weU-being of the future citizens of the Commonwealth ; who, be- 



gg MEMOEIAL ON NORMAL SCHOOLS— 1837. 

sides parents, can do more than all others toward training the young to a clear 
perception of right and wrong, to the love of truth, to reverence for the laws 
of man and of God, to the performance of all the duties of good citizens and 
good men. The teaclier ouglit to be a person of elevated character, able te> 
win by his manners and instruct by his example, without as well aa within the 
school. 

Now it is known to your memorialists that a very large number of those, of 
both sexes, who now teach the summer and the winter schools, are, to a mourn- 
ful degree, wanting in all these qualifications. Far from being able to avail 
themselves of opportimities of commmiicating knowledge on various siibjects> 
they are grossly ignorant of what they are called on to teach. They are often 
without experience in managing a school ; they have no skill in communicating. 
Instead of being able to stimulate and guide to all that is noble and excellent, 
they are, not seldom, persons of such doubtful respectability and refinement of 
charactei', that no one would think, for a moment, of holding them up as models 
to their pupils. In short, they know not luJiat to teach, nor how to teach, nor in 
lohat spirit to teach, nor what is the nature of those they undertake to lead, noy 
what they are themselves, who stand forward to lead them. 

Your memoriaUsts beheve that these are evils of portentoiis moment to the 
future welfare of the people of this Commonwealth, and that, wliile they beaT 
heavUy on all, they bear especially and with disproportioned weight npop the 
poorer districts in the scattered population of the country towns. The wealthy 
are less directly affected by them, as they can send their children from home to 
the better schools m other places. The large towns are not affected in the same 
degree, as then- density of population enables tliem to employ teachers tkrougii 
the year, at salaries which command somewhat higher qualifications. 

"We believe that you have it in your power to adopt such measures as shall 
forthwith dimmish these evils, and at last remove them ; and that tliis can only 
be done by providing for the better preparation of teachers. 

We therefore pray you to consider the expediency of instituting, for the spe- 
cial instruction of teachers, one or more seminaries, either standing mdependently, 
or in connection with institutions already existing ; as you shall, m your wisdom, 
think best. 

We also beg leave to state what we conceive to be essential to such a semi- 
nary. 

1. There should be a professor or professors, of piety, of irreproachable char- 
acter and good education, and of tried ability and skill in teaching. 

2. A libraiy, not necessarily large, but well cliosen, of books on subjects to be 
taught, and on the art of teaching. 

3. School-rooms, well situated, and arranged, heated, ventilated, and furnished, 
in the manner best approved by experienced teachers. 

4. A select apparatus of globes, majps, and other instruments most useful for 
illustration. 

5. A situation such that a school may be connected with the seminary, access- 
ible by a sufficient number of children, to give the variety of an ordinary district 
school. 

We beg leave also further to state the manner in which we conceive that such 
a seminary would be immediately useful to the schools within the sjahere of its 
influence. 

We do not beheve that the majority of the district schools in the Common- 
wealth will soon, if ever, be taught by permanent teachers. We believe that 
they will continue to be taught, as they are now, by persons who, for the greater 
part of the year, will be engaged in some other pursuit : tliat, as in the early 
history of Rome, the generous husbandman left his plough to fight the battles of 
the state, so, in Massachusetts, the free and intelligent citizen will, for a time, 
quit his business, his workshop, or his farm, to fight, for the sake of his children 
and the state, a more vital battle against immorality and ignorance. And we 
rejoice to believe that it will be so. So shall the hearts of the fathers be in tlie 
schools of their children: so shall the teachers have that knowledge of the 
world, that acquaintance with men and tilings, so often wantmg m the mere 
schoolmaster, and yet not among the least essential of liis qualifications. 

But we wish to see these citizens enjoy the means of obtaining the knowledge 



MEMORIAL ON NORMAL SCHOOLS— 1837. gg 

and practical skill in the art of teaching, -wliich shall enable them to perform the 
duties of their acklitional ofEce wortliily. 

Establish a seminary wherever you please, and it will be immediately resorted 
to. We trust too confidently in that desire of excellence which seems to be an 
element in our New England character, to doubt that any young man, who, look- 
ing forwai-d, sees that he shall have occasion to teach a school every winter for 
ten years, will avail liunself of any means within his reach, of preparation for the 
work. Give him the opportunity, and he cannot fail to be essentially benefited 
by his attendance at the seminary, if it be but for a single month. 

In the first place, he will see there an example of right ordering and manage- 
ment of a school; the spirit of which he may iimnediately imbibe, and can 
never after be at a loss, as to a model of management, or in doubt as to its im- 
portance. 

In the second place, by listening to the teaching of another, he will be con- 
vinced of the necessity of preparation, as he will see that success depends on 
thorough knowledge and a direct action of the teacher's own mind. This alone 
would be a great point, as many a schoolmaster hears reading and spelling, and 
looks over writing and arithmetic, without ever attempting to give any instruc- 
tion or explanation, or even thinking them necessary. 

In the thii-d place, he will see put in practice methods of teaching ; and though 
he may, on reflection, conclude that none of them are exactly suited to his own 
mind, he will see the value of method, and will never after proceed as he would 
have done, if he had never seen methodical teaching at aU. 

In the next place, he will have new light thrown upon the whole work of edu- 
cation, by being made to perceive that its great end is not mechanically to com- 
municate abiUty in certain operations, but to draw forth and exercise the whole 
powers of the jahysical, intellectual, and moral being. 

He will, moreover, hardly fail to observe the importance of the manners of an 
instructor, and how far it depends on himself to give a tone of cheerfulness and 
alacrity to his school. 

In the last place, if the right spirit jirevail at the seminary, he will be pre- 
pared to enter upon liis oflBce with an exalted sense of its importance and respon- 
sibility — not as a poor drudge, performing a loathsome office for a miserable 
stipend, but as a delegate of the authority oi parents and the State, to form men ^ 
to the high duties of citizens and the infinite destinies of immortality, answerable 
to them, their country, and their God for the righteous discharge of liis duties. 

Now we beheve that tliis single month's preparation would be of immense 
advantage to a young instructor. 

Let him now enter the district school. He has a definite idea of what arrange- 
ments he is to make, what course he is to pursue, what he is to take hold of first. 
He knows th.at he is himself to teach, he knows wliat to teach, and, in some meas- 
ure, how he is to set about it. He feels how much he has to do to prepare him- 
self, and how much depends on his self-preparation. He has some conception of 
the duties and resjDonsibilities of his office. At the end of a single season, he 
will, Ave venture to say, be a better teacher than he could have been after half 
a dozen, had he not availed himself of the experience of others. He will hardly 
fail to seek future occasions to draw more lai'gely at the same fountain. 

Let us not be understood as offering this statement of probable results as mere 
conjecture. They have been confirmed by all the experience, to the point, of a 
single institution in this State, and of many in a foreign country. What is thus, 
from experience and the reason of things, shown to be true in regard to a short 
preparation, will be still more strikingly so of a longer one. 

To him, who shall make teacliing the occupation of liis life, the advantages, of 
a Teachers' Seminary cannot easily be estimated. They can be faintly imagined 
by him only, who, lawyer, mechanic, or pliysician, can figure to himself what 
would have been his feelings, had he, on the first day of his apprenticeship, been 
called to perform, at once, the duties of his future profession, and, after being 
left to suffer for a time the agony of despair at the impossibility, liad been told 
that two, three, seven years should be allowed him to prepare liimself, with all 
the helps and apphances which are now so bountifully furnished to hmi. — which 
are furnished to every one except the teacher. 

We have no doubt that teachers, prepared at such a seminary, would be in 



90 



MEMORIAL ON NORMAL SCHOOLS— 1837. 



such request as to command, at once, higher pay than is now given, smce it would 
unquestionably be found good economy to employ them. 

It raises no objection, in the minds of your memorialists, to the plan of a semi- 
nary at the State's expense, that many of the instructors there prepared Avould 
teach for only a portion of the year. It is on that very ground that they ought 
to be aided. For then- daily callings they will take care to qualify themselves ; 
they cannot, imaided, be expected to do the same in regard to the office of 
teacher, because it is a casual and temporary one ; it is one which they will ex- 
ercise, in the intervals of their stated business, for the good of their fellow- 
cttizens. They ought, for that especial reason, to be assisted in preparing for it. 
The gain will be theirs, it is true ; but it will be still more the gain of the com- 
munity. It will be theirs, inasmuch as they will be able to command better 
salaries ; but it will be only in consideration of the more valuable services they 
will render. The gain will be shared by other schools than those they teach. 
Seeing what can be done by good teachers, districts and committees wiU no 
longer rest satisfied with poor, and the standard wiU every where rise. 

If it were only as enabling teachers throughout the State to teach, as they 
should, the branches now required to be taught, the seminaries would be worth 
more than their establisliment can cost. But they would do much more. They 
would render the instruction given more worthy, in kind and degree, the en- 
lightened citizens of a free State. 

Without going too mJnutely into this part of the subject, we cannot fully show 
how the course of mstruction might, in our judgment, be eiJarged. "We may be 
allowed to indicate a few particulars. 

The study of geometry, that benignant nui-se of inventive genius, is at present 
pursued partially, in a few of the town schools. We may safely assert that, 
under efficient teachers, the time now given to arithmetic would be amply suJR- 
cient, not only for that, but for geometry, and its most important appUcations in 
smweying and other useful arts. To a population so full of mechanical talent as 
ours, tills is a lamentable omission. 

We may also pomt to the case of drawing in right lines. It might, with a 
saving of tune, be ingrafted on writing, if the instructors were qualified to teach 
it. This beautiful art, so valuable as a guide to the hand and eye of every one, 
especially of every handcraftsman, and deemed almost an essential in every 
school of France, and other countries of Europe, is, so far as we can learn trom 
the Secretary's excellent report, enthely neglected in every public school in 
Massachusetts. 

We might make similar observations in regard to book-keeping, nov.'' begiiming 
to be introduced ; natural pliilosophy, physiology, natural history, and other 
studies, which might come in, not to the exclusion, but to the manifest improve- 
ment, of the studies akeady pursued. 

When we consider the many weeks in our long northern winters, during which, 
all through our bordei's, the arts of the husbandman and budder seem, like the 
processes of the vegetable world, to hold holiday, and the sound of many a trowel 
and many an ax and hammer ceases to be heard, and the hours, witliout any 
interruption of the busy labors of the year, might be given to learning by the 
youth of both sexes, almost up to the age of maturity, these omissions, the un- 
employed intellect, the golden days of early manhood lost, the acquisitions that 
migJd be made and are not, assume a vastness of importance which may well 
alarm us. 

It may possibly be apprehended, that should superior teachers be prepared in 
the seminaries of Massachusetts, they would be invited to other States by higher 
salaries, and the advantage of then- education be thus lost to the State. We 
know not that it ought to be considered an undeshable tiling that natives of 
Massachusetts, who will certainly go, from tim.e to time, to regions more favored 
by nature, should go witli such characters and endowments as to render their 
chosen homes more worthy to be the residence of intelligent men. But we ap- 
prehend it to be an, event much more hkely to happen, that the successful ex- 
ample of Massachusetts should be miitated by her sister republics, emulous, as 
New York already shows herself, of surpassing us in what has liitherto been the 
chief glory of New England, a jealous care of the public schools. 

For the elevation of the public schools to the high rank which they ought to 



MEMOKIAL ON NORMAL SCHOOLS— 1837. 



91 



hold in a community, whose most precious patrimony is their Uberty, and the in- 
telligence, knowledge, and virtue on which alone it can rest, we urge our prayer. 
We speak boldly, for we seek no private end. We speak in the name and be- 
half of those who cannot appear before you to urge their own suit, the sons and 
daughters of the present race, and of aU, of every race and class of coming gen- 
erations in all future tunes. 

For the directors of the American Institute of Instruction. 

George B. Emerson; S. R. Hall; W. J. Adams; D. Kimball; E. A. 
Andrews; B. Greenleaf ; N.Cleveland, Committee. 

The above Memorial was prepared in pursuance of the following votes 
of the Institute. 

At the Annual Meeting, in Boston, in August, 1836, the subject of the 
Professional Education of Teachers was ably discussed, and the following 
resolutions, offered by Mr. Frederic Emerson, of Boston, were adopted : — 

Resolved, '' Tliat the business of teaching should be performed by those who have 
studied the subject of instruction as a profession. Therefore, 

Resolved, That there ought to be at least one seminary in each state, devoted 
exclusively to the education of teachers ; and that this seminary should be authorized 
to confer appropriate degrees." 

At a later period of the session, Mr. Morton, of Plymouth, proposed 
another resolution for the purpose of securing some action : — 

Resolved, " Tlaat a committee be appointed to obtain funds by soliciting our State 
Legislature the next session, and by inviting individual donations for the purchase of 
land and the erection of the necessary buildings, and to put in operation a seminary to 
qualify teachers of youth for the most important occupation of mankind on the earth." 

After a long and ardent debate, the following was offered as an amend- 
ment, by Mr. F. Emerson, and was adopted: — 

Ordered, " That the Board of Directors be instructed to memorialize the Legis- 
lature on the subject of establishing a seminary for the " education of teachers.''' 

A memorial was accordingly prepared by Mr. George B. Emerson, in 
behah' of a committee of the Directors, and submitted to the Legislature 
in January, 1837, by whose order it was printed and circulated with the 
other documents of the session. This paper is the ablest argument in 
behalf of a Normal School which had appeared up to that date ; and will 
not suffer in comparison with any which the discussion of the subject has 
at any time called forth. It however did not lead to any legislative ac- 
tion during that session, but undoubtedly prepared the way. In the 
mean time, the Legislature, on the recommendation of the Governor, and 
of the Committee of Education, of which James G. Carter was chairman, 
and of a Memorial by the Directors of the Institute in 1836. which was 
drawn up by Mr. George B. Emerson, passed an Act instituting the 
Board of Education. 

By the action of this Board, and the labors of its Secretary, and the 
well-timed liberality of Edmund Dwight, in 1838, the idea of a Normal 
School, so long advocated by the friends of school improvement, became 
a recognized fact in the legislation of Massachusetts. Previous to any 
action on the part of the Legislature, an experiment had been commenced 
as a private enterprise at Andover, in connection with one of the best 
conducted academies of the state. 



TEACHERS' SEMINARY 

AT 
ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS. 



"The Teachers' Seminary at Andover was established in September, 1830, 
as a department of Phillips' Academy, one of the oldest literary institutions in 
New England. Its object, as set forth in a circular issued by the Trustees, was 
' to afford the means of a thorough scientific and practical education, prepara- 
tory to the profession of teaching, and to the various departments of business.' 

Though nominally a department of Phillips' Academy, it Avas from the first a 
separate institution, having its organization entirely distinct from that of the 
classical department. 

The Trustees erected for the seminary a commodious and substantial school- 
edifice, and expended between two and three thousand dollars in the purchase 
of apparatus for illustrating the different branches of science. Liberal appro- 
priations were made from time to time for the purpose of diminishing the ex- 
penses of the students. The institution was provided Avith a convenient board- 
ing-house, and rooms for the accommodation of nearly a hundred pupils. 

The seminary embraced a teachers' department, a general department, and a 
preparatory department or model school. The course of instruction in the 
teachers' department occupied a period of three years, and embraced most of 
the English branches pursued in our colleges, together with lectures and dis- 
cussions on the theory and practice of teaching, and other kindred exercises. 
The course of instruction in the general department was shorter and more 
irregular. The members of this department were allowed to join any of the 
classes in the teachers' department, which they were prepared to enter. 

In addition to the ordinary exercises of the general department, the study of 
civil engineering was introduced during the early history of the institution, and 
successfully prosecuted for several years, under the direction of the Rev. F. A. 
Barton. At a later period, special attention was given to the study of scientific 
and practical agriculture, under the instruction of the Rev. Alonzo Gray. 

The preparatory department Avas an English school for boys, usually taught 
by a separate instructor, under the general superintendence of the Principal. 
Members of the teachers' classes were sometimes emploj'ed to conduct recita- 
tions in the preparatory department, but this department could not, at any time, 
be regarded as a school for practice. 

The first Principal of the seminary Avas the Rev. S. R. Hall, Avho continued 
in office nearly seven years. In July, 1837, he was succeeded by the Rev. 
Lyman Coleman, who remained at the head of the institution till "Nov. 1842, 
Avhen the original object of the Trustees was abandoned, or the Teachers' Semi- 
nary Avas merged in Phillips' Academy. 

The number of students in the teachers' classes Avas somcAvhat larger during 
the first six years than during the last six. The average number for the Avhole 
period Avas about fifty. The Avhole number of students that completed the pre- 
scribed course of study, during the existence of the seminary, was a little less 
than one hundred. 

The immediate cause for uniting the Teachers' Seminary Aviih the classical 
department of Phillips' Academy, in 1842, was the Avant of funds to sustain it 
as a separate institution. The limited number of students in the teachers' 
classes resulted in part from the same cause. In the classical department, the 
tuition of indigent students was remitted; but no such provision Avas made for 
the members of the teachers' classes. 

The name of Samuel Farrar, Esq., of Andover, is identified Avith the history 
of this institution. If his generous and untiring efforts in its behalf had been 
seconded by those who had the means of giving it a liberal endoAAnuent, its use- 
fulness AH'Ould not have been brought to so abrupt a termination." 



REMARKS 



DR. WILLIAM E. CHANNING ON EDUCATION AND TEACHERS. 



In 1833, Dr. Channing brought the aid of his personal influence and 
powerful pen, to the service of tlie teacher. In an article in the Christian 
Examiner, for November, 1833. written for the express purpose of com- 
mending the Annals of Education, and the great subject to which it was 
devoted, under the editorial charge of William C. Woodbridge. to the 
attention of the best class of minds in the community, the following views 
are presented as to the importance of institutions for the education of 
teachers, and the true nature and dignity of the office : 

" We are not aware that in this country a single school for teachers is supported 
at the public expense. How much would be gained, if every state should send one 
of its most distinguished citizens to examine the modes of teaching at home and in 
Europe, and should then place him at the head of a seminai'y for the formation of 
teachers.". 

****** 

" There is no office liigher than that of a teacher of youth ; for there is nothing 
on earth so precious as the mind, soul, character of the child. No office should 
be regarded with greater respect. The first minds in the community should be 
encouraged to assume it. Parents should do all but impoverish themselves, to in- 
duce such to become the guardians and gixides of their children. To this good, all 
their sliow and luxury should be sacrificed. Here they should be lavish, whilst 
they straiten themselves in every thing else. They should wear the cheapest 
clothes, live on the plainest food, if they can in no other way secure to their fami- 
lies the best instruction. They should have no anxiety to accumulate property for 
their children, provided they can place them under influences which will awaken 
their faculties, inspire them with pure and high principles, and fit them to bear a 
manly, useful, and honorable part in the world. No language can express the 
cruelty or folly of that economy, which, to leave a fortmie to a child, starves his in- 
tellect, impoverishes his heart." 

****** 

" We know not how society can be aided more than by the formation of a body 
of wise and efficient educators. We know not any class which would contribute so 
much to the stability of the state, and to domestic happiness. Much as we respect 
the ministry of the gospel, we believe that it must yield in importance to the office 
of training the young. In truth, the ministry now accomplishes little, for want of 
that early intellectual and moral discipline, by which alone a community can be 
prepared to distinguish truth from falsehood, to comprehend the instructions of the 
pulpit, to receive higher and broader views of duty, and to apply general principles 
to the diversified details of life. A body of cultivated men, devoted, with their 
whole hearts, to the improvement of education, and to the most effectual training 
of the young, would work a fundamental revolution in society. They would leaven 
the community with just principles." 

****** 

" We maintain that higher ability is required for the office of an educator of the 
young, than for that of a statesman. The highest ability is that which penetrates 
farthest into human nature, comprehends the mind in all its capacities, traces out 
the laws of thought and moral action, understands the perfection of human nature, 
and how it may be approached, understands the springs, motives, applicaUons, by 



94 DR- CHANNING ON EDUCATION AND TEACHERS. 

which the cliild is to be roused to the most vigorous and harmonious action of all its 
faculties, understands its perils, and knows how to blend and modify the influences 
which outward circumstances exert on the youthful mind. The speculations of 
statesmen are shallow, compared with these. It is the cliief function of the states- 
man to watch over the outward interests of a people ; that of the educator to 
quicken its soul. The statesman must study and manage the passions and pre- 
judices of the community; the educator must study the essential, the deepest, the 
loftiest principles of human nature. The statesman works with coarse instruments 
for coarse ends ; the educator is to work by the most refined influences on that de- 
hcate, ethereal essence — ^the immortal soul." 

^ ^ ^ 5^ ^ T^f 

" One gTcat cause of the low estimation in which the teacher is now held, may 
be found in narrow views of education. The multitude think, that to educate a 
child, is to crowd into its mind a given amount of knowledge — ^to teach the 
mechanism of reading and writing — to load the memory with words — to prepare a 
boy for the routine of a trade. No wonder, then, that they think almost every 
body fit to teach. The true end of education, is to unfold and direct aright our 
whole nature. Its office is to call forth power of every kind — power of thought, 
affection, will, and outward action ; power to observe, to reason, to judge, to con- 
trive ; power to adopt good ends firmly, and to pursue them efficiently ; power to 
govern ourselves, and to influence others ; power to gain and to spread happiness. 
Reading is but an instrument ; education is to teach its best use. The intellect was 
created, not to receive passively a few words, dates, facts, but to be active for the 
acquisition of truth. Accordingly, education should labor to inspire a profound love 
of truth, and to teach the processes of investigation. A sound logic, by which we 
mean the science or art which instructs us in the laws of reasoning and evidence, 
in the true methods of inquiry, and in the sources of false judgments, is an essen- 
tial part of a good education. And yet, how little is done to teach the right use of 
the intellect, in the common modes of training either rich or poor. As a general 
rule, the young are to be made, as far as possible, their own teachers — the dis- 
coverers of truth — the interpreters of nature — the framers of science. They are 
to be helped to help themselves. They should be taught to observe and study the 
world in which they live, to trace the connections of events, to rise from particular 
facts to general principles, and then to apply these in explaining new phenomena. 
Such is a rapid outline of the intellectual education, which, as far as possible, should 
be given to all human beings ; and with this, moral education should go hand in hand. 
In proportion as the child gains knowledge, he should be taught how to use it well — 
how to turn it to the good of mankind. He should study the world as God's 
world, and as the sphere in wliich he is to form interesting connections with his 
feUow-creatures. A spirit of humanity should be breathed into him from all his 
studies. In teaching geography, the physical and moral condition, the wants, ad- 
vantages, and striking pecuharities of different nations, and the relations of climate, 
seas, rivers, mountains, to their characters and pursuits, should be pointed out, so 
as to awaken an interest in man wherever he dwells. History should be constantly 
Tised to exercise the moral judgment of the young, to call forth sympathy with the 
fortunes of the human race, and to expose to indignation and abhorrence that 
selfish ambition, that passion for dominion, which has so long deluged the earth 
with blood and woe. And not only should the excitement of just moral feeling be 
proposed in every study. The science of morals should form an important part of 
every child's instruction. One branch of ethics should be particularly insisted on 
by the government. Every school, established by law, should be specially bound 
to teach the duties of the citizen to the state, to unfold the principles of free insti- 
tutions, and to ti-ain the young to an enlightened patriotism. From these brief and 
imperfect views of the natm'e and ends of a wise education, we learn the dignity 
of the profession to which it is entrusted, and the importance of securing to it the 
best minds of the community." 

****** 

" "We have said that it is the office of the teacher to call into vigorous action the 
mind of the cliild. He must do more. He must strive to create a thirst, an in- 
satiable craving for knowledge, to give animation to study and make it a pleasure, 
and thus to communicate an impulse which wiU endure when the instructions of the 



DR. CHANNING ON EDUCATION AND TEACHERS. 



95 



tlie sclaool are closed. The mark of a good teaclier is, not only that lie produces 
great effort in his pupils, bat that he dismisses them from his care, conscious of hav- 
ing only laid the foundation of knowledge, and anxious and resolved to improve 
themselves. One of the sui-e signs of the low state of instruction among us is, that 
the young, on leaving school, feel as if the work of intellectual culture were done, 
and give up steady, vigorous effort for higher truth and wider Imowledge. Our 
daughters at sixteen, and our sons at eighteen or twenty, have finished their edu- 
cation. The true use of a school is, to enable and dispose the pupil to learn through 
life ; and if so, who does not see that the office of teacher requu-es men of enlarged 
and liberal minds, and of winning manners — in other words, that it requires as cul- 
tivated men as can be found in society. K to drive and to drill were the chief duties 
of an instructor — if to force into the mind an amount of Ufeless knowledge — to make 
the child a machine — to create a repugnance to books, to mental labor, to the 
acquisition of knowledge — were the great objects of- the school-room, then the 
teacher might be chosen on the principles which now govern the school-committees 
in no small part of our country. Then the man who can read, write, cypher, and 
whip, and will exercise his gifts at the lowest price, deserves the precedence which, 
he now too often enjoys. But if the human being be something more than a block 
or a brute — if he have powers which proclaim him a child of God, and which were 
given for noble action and perpetual progress, then a better order of things should 
begin among us, and truly enlightened men should be summoned to the work of 
education." 

In an address delivered at the Odeon, in Boston, on the 28th of Feb., 
1837, he thus advocates the estabUshment of an institution for the pro- 
fessional training of teachers : 

" We need an institution for the formation of better teachers ; and, until this 
step is taken, we can make no important progress. The most crying want in this 
commonwealth is the want of accomplished teachers. We boast of our schools ; 
but our schools do comparatively little, for want of educated instructors. Without 
good teaching, a school is but a name. An institution for training men to train the 
young, would be a fountain of Uving waters, sending forth streams to refresh pres- 
ent and futm-e ages. As yet, our legislators have denied to the poor and laboring 
classes this principal means of their elevation. We trust they will not always 
prove blind to the highest interest of the state. 

We want better teachers, and more teachers, for all classes of societj^ — for rich 
and poor, for children and adults. We want that the resources of the community 
should be directed to the procuring of better instructors, as its highest concern. 
One of the surest signs of the regeneration of society will be, the elevation of the 
art of teacliing to the highest rank in the community. When a people shall learn 
that its greatest benefactors and most important members, are men devoted to the 
liberal instruction of all its classes — to the work of raising to life its buried intellect, 
it wiU have opened to itself the path of true glory. Tliis truth is making its way. 
Socrates is now regarded as the greatest man in an age of great men. The name 
of king has gTown dim before that of apostle. To teach, whether by word or 
action, is the highest function on earth. 

Nothing is more needed, than that men of superior gifts, and of benevolent 
spirit, should devote themselves to the instruction of the less enlightened classes in 
the great end of life — in the dignity of their nature — ^in their rights and duties — in 
the history, laws, and institutions of their country — in the pliilosophy of their em- 
ployments — in the laws, harmonies, and productions of outward natm-e, and, espe- 
cially, in the art of bringing up cliildren in health of body, and in vigor and purity 
of mind. We need a new profession or vocation, the object of which shall be to 
wake up the intellect in those spheres where it is now buried in habitual slumber. 

We want a class of hberal-minded instructors, whose vocation it shall be, to 
place the views of the most enlightened minds within the reach of a more and 
more extensive portion of their fellow- creatures. The wealth of a community 
should flow out like water for the preparation and employment of such teachers — 
for enhsting powerful and generous minds in the work of giving impulse to theur 
race. 



9Q DR. CHANNING ON EDUCATION AND TEACHERS. 

IsToi- let it be said that men, able and disposed to carry on this work, must not be 
looked for in such a world as ours. Christianity, which has wrought so many 
miracles of beneficence — which has sent forth so many apostles and martyrs — so 
many Howards and Clarksons, can raise up laborers for this harvest also. Nothing 
is needed but a new pouring out of the spirit of Christian love — nothing but a new 
comprehension of the brotherhood of the human race, to call forth efforts which 
seem impossibilities in a self-seeking and self-indulging age." 

From the outset. Dr. Channing exhibited great interest in the estab- 
lishment of the Board of Education, and the permanent organization of 
the Normal Schools. In a letter addressed to Mr. Mann, in August, 1837, 
congratulating him and the commonwealth on his acceptance of the office 
of Secretary of the Board, he says : 

" You could not find a nobler station. Government has no nobler one to give. 
You must allow me to labor under you according to my opportunities. If at any 
time I can tdd you, you must let me know, and I shall be glad to converse with you 
always about your operations. When will the low, degrading party quarrels of the 
country cease, and the better minds come to think what can be done toward a sub- 
stantial, generous improvement of the community ? ' My ear is pained, my very 
soul is sick,' with the monotonous, yet furious clamors about currency, banks, &c., 
when the spiritual interests of the community seem hardly to be recognized as 
having any reality. 

If we can but turn the wonderful energy of this people into a right channel, 
what a new heaven and earth must be realized among us ! And I do not despair. 
Your willingness to consecrate yourself to this work, is a happy omen. You do 
not stand alone, or form a rare exception to the times. There must be many to be 
touched by the same truths which are stirring you." 

A few months afterward, he attended, at Taunton, one of the series 
of county conventions, which Mr. Mann held, in pursuance of the plan 
of the Board, to attract attention to the improvement of common schools, 
and took part in the proceedings by submitting and advocating a reso- 
lution affirming the immediate and pressing necessity of pubhc and legis- 
lative action in behalf of common education. We make a few extracts 
from a newspaper report : 

" We are told that this or that man should have an extensive education ; but, 
that another, who occupies a lower place in society, needs only a narrow one : that 
the governor of a state requires a thorough education, while the humble mechanic 
has need only to study his last and his leather. But why should not the latter, 
though pursuing an humble occupation, be permitted to open his eyes on the lights 
of knowledge ? Has he not a soul of as gi-eat capacity as the former ? Is he not 
sustaining the same relations as a parent, a citizen, a neighbor, and as a subject of 
God's moral government ? To educate a child is, in fact, a greater work than to 
perform the duties of a governor. What is it ? It is to take the direction of mind, 
to cultivate the powers of thought, and to .jteach the duties which we owe to God 
and to our neighbor. Can a parent teach his child these duties, imless he has 
learned them himself? Every one, no matter what is his occupation or place, 
needs an education, in order that he may have the proper use of his powers, and be 
enabled to improve them through life. 

Some say, were these views of education to prevail, there would be littie or no 
work done— manual labor would fail. But for the purpose of working effectually, 
one should be intelligent •, he will bring the more to pass, because he labors for 
some known object, and is stimulated by motives which he understands and feels. 

We want worthy laborers, who exalt themselves while they benefit others. The 
circumstances in wliich they are placed, are fitted to call forth their mental powers, 
to awaken thought, and to impress them with their responsibilities. Tliey are 



DR. CHANNING ON EDUCATION AND TEACHERS. 



97 



brought into intimate connection with their fellow-men, and, if qualified by educa- 
tion, may exert over them, even in the humble walks of life, a most salutary influ- 
ence. 

He said, tliat, on the same principle that he would educate one, he would edu- 
cate all. The poor man, as to his natural capacity, does not differ from others. He 
is equally susceptible of improvement, and would receive as great advantages as 
others from a well-bestowed education. 

Other views, he said, inade him desire that education might be diffused among 
all classes. Our institutions demand this general diffusion. They are for the com- 
mon mass of the people ; and unless the people are educated, they both lose the 
benefit of these institutions and weaken their power.. Liberty requires that every 
citizen, in order to its proper enjoymeint, should have the means of elevation. 

Again, all participate in the sovereignty of the country. Men, in other coun- 
tries, have been fighting to be sovereigns. Here every man is one. Every citizen 
participates in legislating for the commonwealth, and in administering the govern- 
ment. Ought not every man who has such duties devolving on him, to receive as 
hberal a training as possible ? 

For the sake of union, this should be done ; especially in our country, where 
there are no titled orders born to higher privileges than others. In other countries, 
the class in power have the principal means of knowledge, and, in order to keep 
the civil power in their hands, their object is to withhold from others the means of 
mental improvement. But, according to the genius of our government, education 
must bring all conditions and all classes together. 

He said, in proportion as men are educated, they are more on an equality as to 
property. They communicate together — maintain a more agreeable intercourse — 
live in more harmony, and in greater love. Barriers are broken down ; and 
society, by its general cultm'e, is raised to a liigher state of refmement and happi- 
ness. 

He rejoiced that we had colleges liberally endowed ; and he would not divert 
from them one stream of bounty. But he thought more of the mass than of the 
few ; and wanted men educated for the comnmnity at large, and not for themselves 
alone. He rejoiced that we had academies, and that they were rising in impor- 
tance ; but he felt a deeper interest in the common schools. He desired the edu- 
cation of all the citizens, not as a politician, or as one seeking public favor 5 he was 
a candidate for no office ; but he desired it as a man — a friend to his race. 

He affirmed that the common schools have not kept pace with our wealth ; that 
it is more essential to the prosperity of a school that it have a good teacher, than it 
is to the prosperity of a nation that it have wise and able rulers. We have, in 
many of our schools, teachers who do honor to the name : many, he regretted to 
say, were untaught and incompetent. They were not so much to blame, because 
they were not furnished vi-'ith those means for qualifying themselves, which every 
other profession provides for those who would enter it. He most deeply regretted 
that our Legislature had not appropriated their surplus funds last winter, in estab- 
lishing an institution for teachers. How much more good those large funds would 
have done ! He hoped no more would come into then- hands to be disposed of as 
these had been. 

He could speak from experience. He was, for some time, in early life, a teacher, 
and he ever felt pain in remembering his deficiencies. Though he had no reason 
to suppose he was then behind others in the same emplo}Tnent, yet the remembrance 
of his lack of skill in discipline, and ignorance of the modes of access to the youthful 
mind, ever gave him deep regret. He had not, while filling the responsible station 
of teacher, learned how to make education a pleasure to a child. 

But an institution for teachers is not all. There must be funds raised to pay 
them for their laborious services. How strange that the man who has the care of 
our children, should be thought to hold so low a place ! But it must be seen and 
felt that his services are of vital importance, and deserve a generous recompense. 
In Prussia, where education has made gi'eat progress, teachers are obtained easily, 
and at a moderate expense, because other lucrative occupations are not open to 
them. In this country other occupations afford higher wages, and, therefore, that 
of a teacher has not risen to the honor of a profession. JSTo good teacher can be 
obtained without ample compensation. Boston, though recently disgi'aced by its 

G 



gg DR. CHANNING ON EDUCATION AND TEACHERS. 

mobs, is doing much in compensating its teachers — is giving as great a salary to 
one of its teachers as to its mayor. 

How is Massachusetts, he asked, to sustain its high character and rank ? Look 
on the map, and you perceive how diminutive it is in size, compared with many of 
the other states. What is to prevent this Uttle state from falling behind others 
which have greater natural advantages, and losing its influence ? Nothing but cul- 
tivating the minds of its citizxns — cultivating them in learning and virtue. On this 
foundation its eminence and greatness will stand firm." 

In a discourse on self-culture, delivered in Boston, in 1838, in the 
course of Franklin Lectures, which were attended mainly by those who 
were occupied by manual labor, Dr. Channing holds the following lan- 
guage : 

" They, whose childhood has been neglected, though they may make progi'ess in 
futm-e life, can hardly repair the loss of their first j'ears ; and I say this, that we 
may all be excited to save our children from this loss — that we may prepare them, 
to the extent of our power, for an effectual use of all the means of self-culture, 
which adult age may bring with it. With these views, I ask you to look with 
favor on the recent exertions of our Legislature, and of private citizens, in behalf of 
our public schools, the chief hope of our country. The Legislature has, of late, ap- 
pointed a board of education, with a secretarj^ who is to devote his whole time to 
the improvement of public schools. An individual more fitted to this ofiice than the 
gentleman who now fills it, (Horace Mann, Esq.,) can not, I believe, be found in 
our community ; and if his labors shall be crowned with success, he will earn a 
title to the gratitude of the good people of this state, unsurpassed by that of any 
other living citizen. Let me also recall to your minds a munificent individual, 
(Edmund Dwight, Esq.,) who, by a generous donation, has encouraged the Legis- 
lature to resolve on the establishment of one or more institutions called Normal 
Schools, the object of which is, to prepare accomplished teacher^ of youth — a 
work, on which the progress of education depends more than on any other mea- 
sure. The efficient friends of education are the true benefactors of their country, 
and their names deserve to be handed down to that posterity for whose liighest 
wants they are so generously providing. * * * We need for om- schools gifted 
men and women, worthy, by their intelligence and their moral power, to be in- 
trusted with a nation's youth ; and, to gain these, we must pay them liberally, as 
well as afford other proofs of the consideration in which we hold them. In the pres- 
ent state of the country, when so many paths of wealth and promotion are opened, 
superior men can not be won to an office so responsible and laborious as that of 
teaching, without stronger inducements than are now offered, except in some of our 
large cities. The office of instructor ought to rank, and be recompensed, as one 
of the most honorable in society ; and I see not how this is to be done, at least in 
our day, without appropriating to it the public domain. This is the people's prop- 
erty, and the only part of their property which is likely to be soon devoted to the 
support of a high order of institutions for public education. This object, interesting 
to all classes of society, has peculiar claims on those whose means of improvement 
are restricted by narrow circumstances. Tlie mass of the people should devote 
themselves to it as one man — should toil for it with one soul. Mechanics, farmers, 
laborers! let the country echo with your united cry, 'The public lands for edu- 
cation.' Send to the public council men who will plead this cause with power. No 
party triumphs, no trades-unions, no associations, can so contribute to elevate you 
as the measure now proposed. Nothing but a higher education can raise you in 
influence and true dignity. The resources of the public domain, wisely applied for 
successive generations to the culture of society and of the individual, would create 
a new people — would awaken through tliis community intellectual and moral 
energies, such as the record of no country display, and as would command the re- 
spect and emulation of the civilized world. In this grand object, the working-men 
of all pai'ties, and in all divisions of the land, should join with an enthusiasm not to 
be withstood. They should separate it from all narrow and local strifes. They 
should not suffer it to be mixed up with the schemes of politicians. In it, they and 



DR CHANNING ON EDUCATION AND TEACHERS. 99 

their cliildi-en have an mfinite stake. May tliey be true to themselves, to posterity, 
to their countiy, to freedom, to the cause of mankind." 

In a letter written in 1841, in reply to a communication respecting the 
Normal School at Lexington, 'he refers to his own experience as a 
teacher, and to the attempt in the Legislature to break down the Normal 
Schools : 

" I have felt, as you well know, a deep interest in their success, (Normal Schools,) 
though, perhaps, you do not know all the reasons of it. I began life as a teacher, 
and my own experience has made me feel the importance of training the teacher 
for his work. I was not more deficient than most young men who pass through 
college. Perhaps I may say, without presumption, that I was better fitted than 
most to take charge of a school ; and yet I look back on no part of my life with so 
much pain as on that which I gave to school-keeping. The interval of forty years 
has not relieved me from the sorrow and self-reproach which the recollection of it 
calls forth. How little did I do for the youthful, tender minds intrusted to me ! I 
was not only a poor teacher, but, what was worse, my inexperience in the art of 
wholesome discipline led to the infliction of useless and hurtful pmiishments. I was 
cruel thi'ough ignorance ; and this is the main source of cruelty in schools. Force, 
brute force, is called in to supply the place of wisdom. I feel myself bound to make 
this confession as some expiation for my errors. I know the need of a Normal 
School. I speak not from speculation, but sad experience. 

But, indeed, does it not stand to reason, that, where all other vocations need ap- 
prenticeship, the highest of all vocations — that of awakening, guiding, enlightening 
the human soul — must require serious preparation? That attempts sliould have 
been made in the Legislature to break down our Normal Schools, and almost with 
success, is one of the most discouraging symptoms of our times. It shows that the 
people will not give their thoughts to the dearest interests of society ; for any 
serious thought would have led them to frown down such efforts in a moment. I 
rejoice that the friends of education are beginning to visit the Normal School at 
Lexington. I earnestly implore for it the blessing of Heaven." 

LofC. 



NORMAL SCHOOLS 

AND 

TEACHERS' SEMIlfARIES. 

BT CALTIN E. STOWE, D. D, 



The following remarks were originally prepared and delivered as an Ad- 
dress before the College of Professional Teachers in Cincinnati and Colum- 
bus, Ohio. They were first published in the American Biblical Repository 
for July, 1839, and in the same year republished in Boston by Marsh, Capen, 
Lyon and Webb, in a little volume, with the author's " Report on Elementary 
Public Instruction in Europe, which was made to the General Assembly of 
Ohio, in December, 1837." 

" Ich versprach Gott : Ich will jedes prenssische Bauerkind fiir ein Wesen ansehen, das raicli bei 
Gott verklagen kann, wenn ich ihm nicht die beste Menschen-und Christen-Bildung schaiFe, die ich 
ihm zu sobaffen vermag." 

" I promised God, that I would look upon every Prussian peasant child as a being who could 
complain of me before God, if I did not provide for him the best education, as a man and a Chris- 
tian, which it was possible for me to provide." — Dinter's Letter to Baron Von Altenstein. 

When the benevolent Franke turned Ms attention to the subject of popular 
education in the city of Hamburgh, late in the seventeenth century, he soon 
found that children could not be well taught without good teachers, and that but 
few good teachers could be found unless they were regularly trained for the 
profession. Impressed with this conviction, he bent all his energies toward the 
estabUslunent of a Teachers' Seminary, in which he finally succeeded, at Halle, 
in Prussia, about the year 1*704;* and from this fii'st institution of the kind in 
Europe, well qualified teachers were soon spread over all the north of Germany, 
who prepared the way for that great revolution in public instruction, wliich has 
since been so happily accomplished under the auspices of Frederick William III. 
and his praiseworthy coadjutors. Every enlightened man, who, since the time 
of Franke, has in earnest turned his attention to the same subject, has been 
brought to the same result ; and the recent movements in France, in Scotland ; 
in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Ohio, and other States in the American 
Union, all attest the very great difficulty, if not entire impossibiUty, of carrying 
out an efficient system of public instruction without seminaries expressly designed 
for the preparation of teachers. 

Having devoted some attention to this subject, and having spent considerate 
time m examining institutions of the kind akeady established in Europe, I pro- 
pose in this paper to exhibit the result of my iuvestigationa. In exhibiting this 
result, I have thought proper to draw out, somewhat iu detail, what I suppose 
would be the best plan, on the whole, without expee<!ing that all parts of the 
plan, in the present state of education in our countiy, wiU be carried into inune- 
diate execution. I propose what I think ought tp be aimed at, and what, I doubt 
not, will ultimately be attained, if the spuit wiich is now awake on the subject 
be not suffered again to sleep. 

The smn of what I propose is contained in the six following propositions, 
namely : 

I. The interests of popular education in each State demand the establishment, 
at the seat of government, and under the patronage of the legislatm-e, of a 
. XoEstAL School,! that is, a Teachers' Seminary and Model-school, for the instruc- 
tion and practice of teachers in the science of education and the art of teachuig. 

* See page 201. 

t The French adjective normal is derived from the Latin noun norma, which signifies a carpen- 
ter's square, a rule, a pattern, a model ; and the very general use of this term to designate in- 
stitutions for the preparation of teachers, leads us at once to the idea of a model-school for prac- 
tice, as an essential constituent part of a Teachers' Seminar]/. 



JQ2 STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

II. Pupils should not be received into the Teachers' Seminary under sixteen 
years of age, nor until they are weU versed in all the branches usually taught in 
common schools. 

III. The model-school should comprise the various classes of children usually 
admitted to the common schools, and should be subject to the same general dis- 
cipline and course of study. 

IV. The course of instruction in the Teachers' Semmary should include three 
years, and the pupils be divided into three classes, accordingly. 

V. The senior classes in the Teachers' Seminary should be employed, under the 
immediate instruction of their professors, as instructors in the model-school. 

VI. The course of instruction in the Teachers' Seminary should comprise lec- 
tures and recitations on the following topics, together with such others as further 
observation and experience may show to be necessary : 

1. A thorough, scientific, and demonstrative study of all the branches to be 
taught in the common schools, with directions at every step as to the best meth- 
od of inculcating each lesson upon children of different dispositions and capacities, 
and various intellectual habits. 

2. The plrUosophy of mind, particularly in reference to its susceptibility of re- 
ceiving impressions from mind. 

3. "The peculiarities of intellectual and moral development in children, as mod- 
ified by sex, parental character, wealth or poverty, city or country, family gov- 
ernment, indulgent or severe, fickle or steady, Ac, &c. 

4. The science of education in general, and full illustrations of the difference 
between education and mere instruction. 

5. The art of teaching. 

6. The art of governmg children, with special reference to imparting and keep- 
ing alive a feeling of love for children. 

7. History of education, including an accurate outline of the educational sys- 
tems of different ages and nations, the circumstances which gave rise to them, 
the principles on wliich they were founded, the ends which they aimed to accom- 
pUsh, their successes and failures, their permanency and changes, how far they 
influenced individual and national character, how far any of them might have 
originated in premeditated plan on the part of their founders, whether they se- 
cured the inteUigence, vu'tue, and happiness of the people, or otherwise, with the 
causes, &c. 

8. T^e rules of health, and the laws of physical development. 

9. Dignity and importance of the teacher's office. 

10. Special reKgious obligations of teachers in respect to benevolent devoted- 
ness to the intellectual and moral welfare of society, habits of entire self-control, 
purity of mind, elevation of character, <fec. 

11. The influence which the school should exert on civilization and the prog- 
ress of society, 

12. The elements of Latin, together with the German, French, and Spanish 
languages. 

On each of the topics above enumerated, I shall attempt to offer such remarks 
as may be necessary to their more full development and illustration ; and then 
state the argument in fa-Tor of, and answer the objections which may be urged 
against, the estabhshment of such an institution as is here contemplated. 

To begin with the first projjosition. 

I. The interests of popular edvication in each state demand the establishment, 
at the seat of government, and under the patronage of the legislature, of a ]S%-- 
mal School, that is, a Teachers' Seminary and model-school, for the instruction 
and practice of teachers in the science of education and the art of teaching. 

If there be necessity for such an institution, there can be httle doubt that tlie 
legislature should patronize and sustain it ; for, new as our country is, and nu- 
merous as are the objects to which individual capital must be applied, there can 
be no great hope, for many years to come, of seeing such institutions established 
and supported by private munificence. It is a very appropriate object of legis- 
lative patronage ; for, as the advantages of such an institution are clearly open 
to all the citizens of the State, and equally necessary to all, it is right that each 
should sustain his proper share of the expense. 

Reserving my general argument in favor of these establishments till after a 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



103 



more full development of tlieir object, organization, and course of study, I shall 
confine my remarks under this head to the subject of legishitive patronage, and 
the influence whicli such an institution would exert, through the legislature and 
officers of government, on the people at large. And in order that the institution 
may exert the influence here contemplated, it will appear obviously necessary 
that it be placed at the seat of government. 

Popular legislators ought to have some objects in view besides the irritating 
and often petty questions of party poUtics. Any observing man, who has watched 
the progress of popular legislation among us, cannot but have noticed the ten- 
dency of continued and uninterrupted party bic]>:ering to narrow the mind and 
sour the temper of political men, to make them selfish, unpatriotic, and unprin- 
cipled. It is higlJy necessary for their improvement as men, and as republican 
lawgivers, that the bitterness and bigotry of party strife should sometimes be 
checked by some great object of joublic utility, in which good men of all parties 
may unite, and the contemplation and discussion of which shall enlarge the views 
and elevate the affections. The legislatures of several states have already had 
experience of these benefits. The noble institutions for deaf mutes, for the Mind, 
and for the insane, which have grown up under their care, and been sustained 
by their bounty, are not less beneficial by the moral influence they exert, every 
year, on the officers of government wlio witness their benevolent operations, than 
by the physical and intellectual blessings which they confer on the unfortunate 
classes of persons for whom thej'' were more particularly designed. Who can 
witness the proficiency of the bUnd and the mute in that knowledge wliich con- 
stitutes the charm of life, as witnessed in the annual exliibitions of these insti- 
tutions at Columbus, during the sessions of the legislature, without feeling the 
blessedness of benevolence, and inwardly resolving to be himself benevolent ? 
"Without some such objects in view, political character deteriorates, and the legis- 
lator sinks to the demagogue. When our American Congress has had noble ob- 
jects in view ; when it has been struggling for the rights of man, and the great 
principles which are tlie foundations of free institutions, it has been the nursery 
01 patriotism and the theater of great thouglits and mighty deeds ; but when its 
objects have been mean, and its aims selfish, how sad the reverse in respect to 
its moral character and national influence ! 

Colleges, and mstitutions for the higher branches of classical learning, have 
seldom flourished in this country under legislative patronage ; because the people 
at large, not perceiving that these institutions are directly beneficial to them, 
allow then" legislators to give them only a hesitating, reluctant, and insufficient 
support. ISTo steady, well-digested plan of improvement is carried consistently 
through, but the measures are vacillating, contradictory, and often destructive, 
not from want of sagacity to perceive what is best, but simply from want of in- 
terest in the object, and a consequent determination to maintain it at the cheap- 
est rate. But an institution of the kind here contemplated, the people at large 
will feel to be for their immediate benefit. It is to qualify teachers for the in- 
struction of tlieu- own children ; and among the people throughout most of the free 
States, there is an appreciation of the advantages and necessity of good' common- 
school instruction, which makes them willing to incur heavy sacrifices for the sake 
of securing it. They will, therefore, cheerfully sustain their legislators in any 
measure which is seen to be essential to the improvement and perfection of the 
common-school system ; and that the establishment of a N^ormal School is essen- 
tial to this, I expect to prove in the course of this discussion. 

Supposing the mstitution to be estabhshed at the seat of government, under 
proper auspices, the legislature would every year witness its beneficial results ; 
they would attend the exliibitions of its pupils both in the seminary and in the 
model-school, as they now, in several States, attend the exhibitions of 'the blind 
and mute ; their views would be enlarged, their affections moved, their ideas of 
what constitutes good education settled ; they would return to their constituents 
fall of zeal and confidence in the educational cause, and impart the same to 
them ; they would learn how schools ought to be conducted, the respective du- 
ties of parents, teachers, and school officers ; they would become the most effi- 
cient missionaries of public instruction ; and, ere long, one of the most important 
errands from their constituents would be, to find for them, in the Teachers' Sem- 
inary, a suitable instructor for their district school. Such an influence will be to 



]^Q4 STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

the school system, what electricity is to the operations of nature, an influence 
unceasing, all-pervading, lightning-winged. 

The Superintendent of Public Instruction, in every State, would be essentially 
aided by such an institution at the seat of government. He greatly needs it as 
a fulcrum to pry over, when he would move the legislature or the people. He 
cannot bring the legislature to the common schools, nor these to the legislature, 
to illustrate existing deficiencies or recommend improvements; but here is a 
model constructed under his own eye, •v^hich he can at any moment exhibit 
to the legislature, and by which he can give complete illustrations of all his 
views. 

As the young men in the seminary grow up, he watches their progress, and 
ascertams the peculiar qualifications and essential characteristics of each indi- 
vidual ; and, as he passes through the State, and learns the circumstances and 
wants of each community, he knows whare to find the teacher best fitted to carry 
out his views, and give efficiency to the system in each particular location. 
Nothing is lost ; the impression which he makes is immediately followed up and 
deepened by the teacher, before it has time to cool and disappear. A superin- 
tendent of schools without a Teachers' Seminary, is a general without soldiers, 
depending entirely on the services of such volunteers as he can pick up on his 
march, most of whom enlist but for the day, and go honae to sleep at night. 

Such is a brief view of the reasons for legislative patronage, and a location at 
the seat of government. I do not imagine that one institution will be enough to 
supply the wants of a whole state ; but let the one be established fh-st, and 
whatever others are needful will speedily follow.* 

We now proceed to our second general proposition. 

il. PujDils should not be received into the Teachers' Seminary under sixteen 
years of age, nor until they are well versed in all the branches usually taught in 
the common schools. 

The age at which the pupils leave the common school is the proper age for 
entering the Teachers' Seminary, and the latter should begin just where the 
former closes. Tliis is young enough ; for few persons have their judgments suf- 
ficiently matured, or their feelings under sufficient control, to engage in school- 
teaching by themselves, before they are twenty years old. It is not the design 
of the Teachers' Seminary to go through the common routine of the common- 
school course, but a thorough grounding in this is to be assumed as the founda- 
tion on which to erect the structure of the teacher's education. 

HI. The model-school should comprise the various classes of cliildren usually 
admitted to tlie common schools, and should be subject to the same general dis- 
ciplme and course of study. 

The model-school, as its name imports, is to be a model of what the common 
school ought to be ; and it must be, therefore, composed of like materials, and 
subject to smiilar rules. The model-school, in fact, should be the common school 
of the place in which the Teachers' Seminary is situated ; it should aim to keep 
in advance of every other school in the State, and every other school in the State 
should aim to keep up with that. It is a model for the constant inspection of 
the pupils in the teachers' department, a practical illustration of the lessons they 
receive from their professors ; the proof-stone by which they are to test the util- 
ity of the abstract principles they imbibe, and on whicli they are to exercise and 
improve their gifts of teaching. Indeed, as School-counselor Dinter told a no- 
bleman of East-Prussia, to set up a Teachers' Seminary without a model-school, 
is like setting up a shoemaker's shop without leather. 

IV. The course of instruction in the Teachers' Seminary should include three 
years, and the pupils be divided into three classes, accordingly. 

The course of study, as will be seen by inspecting it in the following pages, 
cannot well be completed in less time than this ; this has been found short enough 
for professional study in the other professions, which is generally 'commenced at 
a maturer age, and after the pupil .has had the advantage of an academical or 
collegiate course ; and if it is allowed that five or seven years are not too much 
to be spent in acquiring the trade of a blacksmith, a carpenter, or any of the 

* This article was -written in its special reference to Ohio, and the new States of the West. In 
some of the older States, the expense of living at the seat of govermncnt might operate as an 
objection to the location of the Seminary there. 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 205 

common indispensable handcrafts, surely three years will not be deemed too 
much for the difficult and most important art of teacliing. 

V. The senior class in the Teacliers' Seminary should be employed, under the 
immediate inspection of their professors, as instructors in the model-school. 

The model-school is intended to be not only an illustration of the principles 
inculcated theoretically in the seminary, but is calculated also as a school for 
practice, in wliich the seminary pupils may learn, by actual experiment, the prac- 
tical bearing of the principles wliich they have studied. After two years of the- 
oretical study, the pupils are Avell qualified to commence this practical course, 
vmder the immediate inspection of their professors ; and the model-school being 
under the inspection of such teachers, it is obvious that its pupils can suffer no 
loss, but must be great gainers by the arrangement. 

Tills is a part of the system for training teachers which cannot be dispensed 
with, and any considerable hope of success retained. To attempt to traiia prac- 
tical teachers without it, would be like attempting to train sailors by keeping 
boys upon Bowditch's Navigator, without ever suffering them to go on board a 
ship, or handle a ropeyarn. One must begin to teach, before he can begin to be a 
teacher ; and it is infinitely better, both for himself and liis pupils, that lie should 
make this beginning under the eye of an experienced teacher, who can give him 
dii'ections and point out liis errors, than that he should blunder on alone, at the 
risk of ruining multitudes of pupils, before he can learn to teach by the slow pro- 
cess of unaided experience. 

VI. Course of instruction in the Teachers' Seminary. 

1. A thorough, scientific, and demonstrative study of all the branches to be 
taught in tlie common schools, with directions, at every step, as to the beat meth- 
od of inculcating each lesson on childi'en of different dispositions and capacities, 
and various intellectual habits. 

It is necessary here to give a general outline of a course of study for the com- 
mon schools of this country. The pupils usually in attendance are between the 
ages of six and sixteen, and I would arrange them in thi-ee divisions, as follows : 

FmsT Division, including the youngest children, and those least advanced, gen- 
erally between the ages of six and nine. 

Topics of Instruction. — 1. Familiar conversational teaching, in respect to ob- 
jects which fall daily under their notice, and in respect to their moral and social 
duties, designed to awaken their powers of observation and expression, and to 
cultivate their moral feelings. 

2. Elements of reading. 

3. Elements of writing. 

4. Elements of numbers. 

5. Exercises of the voice and ear — singing by rote. 

6. Select readings in the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Gospels. 

Second Division, including those more advanced, and generally between, the 
ages of nine and twelve. 

Topics of Instruction. — 1. Exercises in reading. 

2. Exercises in writing. 

3. Aritlunetic. 

4. Elements of geography, and geography of the United States. 

5. History of the United States. 

6. Moral and rehgious instruction in select Bible narratives, parables, and 
proverbs. 

7. Elements of music, and singing by note. 

8. English grammar and parsing. 

Third Division, most advanced, and generally between the ages of twelve 
and sixteen. 

Topics of Instruction. — 1. Exercises in reading and elocution. 

2. Caligraphy, stenography, and linear drawing. 

3. Algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, with their application to civil engi- 
neering, surveying, &c. 

4. English composition, forms of business, and book-keeping. 

5. General geography, or knowledge of the earth and of manldud. 

6. General history. 



IQQ STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

"7. Constitution of the United States, and of the several States. 

8. Elements of the natural sciences, inchiding their application to the arts of 
life, such as agriculture, manufactures, &c. 

9. Moral uistruction m the connected Bible history, the life and discourses of 
Christ, the religious observation of Nature, and history of Christianity. 

10. Science and art of vocal and instrumental music. 

Thorough instruction on all these topics I suppose to be essential to a complete 
common-school education ; and though it may be many years before our schools 
come up to tliis standard, yet I think nothing short of this should satisfy us ; and, 
as fast as possible, we should be laboring to train teachers capable of giving in- 
struction in all these branches. When this standard for the common school has 
been attained, then, before the pupil is prepared to enter on the three years' 
course of study proposed in the Teachers' Seminary, he must have studied all 
the topics above enumerated, as they ought to be studied in the common schools. 

The study of a topic, however, for the purpose of applying it to practical use, 
is not always the same thing as studying it for the purpose of teaching it. The 
processes are often quite different. A man may study music till he can perform 
admirably himself, and yet possess very little skill in teaching others ; and it is 
well known that the most successful orators are not unfrequently the very worst 
teachers of elocution. The process of learning for practical purposes is mostly 
that of combination or synthesis ; but the process of learning for the purpose of 
teaching is one of continued and minute analysis, not only of the subject itself, 
but of all the movements and turnings of the feelers of the mind, the little an- 
tenncB by which it seizes and retains its hold of the several parts of a topic. Till 
a man can minutely dissect, not only the subject itself, but also the intellectual 
machinery by which it is worked up, he camiot be very successful as a teacher. 
The orator analyzes his subject, and disposes its several parts in the order best 
calculated for effect ; but the mental processes by which he does this, which con- 
stitute the tact that enables him to judge right, as if by instinct, are generally so 
rapid, so evanescent, that it may be impossible for him to recall them so as to 
describe them to another ; and it is tliis very rapidity of intellectual movement, 
wliich gives him success as an orator, that renders it the more difficult for him to 
succeed as a teacher. The musician would perform very poorly, who should stop 
to recognize each volition that moves the muscles which regulate the movement 
of his fingers on the organ-keys ; but he who would teach others to perform 
gracefully and rapidly, must give attention to points minute as these. The 
teacher must stop to observe and analyze each movement of the mind itself, as 
it advances on every topic ; but men of genius for execution, and of great prac- 
tical skill, who never teach, are generally too impatient to make this minute 
analysis, and often, indeed, form such habits as at length to become incapable of 
it. The first Duke of Marlborough was one of the most profound and brilliant 
military men that ever lived ; but he had been so little accustomed to observe 
the process of his own mind, by which he arrived with such certainty at those 
astounding results of warlike genius which have given him the first rank among 
Britain's soldiers, that he could seldom construct a connected argument in favor 
of his plans, and generally had but one answer to all the objections which might 
be urged against them, and that was usually repeated in the same words, — 
" Silly, silly, that's silly." A like remark is applicable to Oliver Cromwell, and 
several other men distmguished for prompt and energetic action. The mental 
habits best adapted for effect in the actual business of hfe are not always the 
mental habits best suited to the teacher ; and the Teachers' Seminary requhes a 
mode of instruction in some respects different from the practical school. 

The teacher, also, must revicAv the branches of instruction above enumerated 
with reference to their scientific connections, and a thorough demonstration of 
them, whicli, though not always necessary in respect to their practical apph- 
cation to the actual business of life, is absolutely essential to that ready com- 
mand which a teacher must have over them in order to put them into the minds 
of others. 

Nor is this all. There is a great variety of methods for inculcating the same 
truth ; and the diversities of mind are quite as numerous as the varieties of 
method. One mind can be best approached by one method, and another mind 
by another; and m respect to the teacher, one of the richest treasures of espe- 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 207 

rience is a knowledge of the adaptation of the different methods to different 
minds. These rich treasures of experience can be preserved, and classified, and 
imparted in the Teachers' Seminary. If the teacher never studies his profession, 
he learns tliis part of his duties only by the slow and wasteful process of exper- 
imenting on mind, and thus, in all probability, ruins many before he learns how 
to deal with them. Could we ascertain how many minds have been lost to the 
world in consequence of the injudicious measures of inexperienced and incompe- 
tent teachers ; if we could exhibit, in a statistical table, the number of souls which 
must be used up in quaUfying a teacher for his profession, by intrusting liim 
with its active duties without previous study, we could prove incontrovertibiy 
that it is great want of economy, that it is a most prodigious waste, to attempt 
to carry on a system of schools without making provision for the education of 
teachers. 

2. The philosophy of mind, particularly in reference to its susceptibility of re- 
ceiving impressions from mind. 

The teacher should learn, at least, not to spoil by his awkward handling what 
Nature has made well ; he should know how to preserve the intellectual and 
moral powers in a healthful condition, if he be not capable of improving them. 
But, through ignorance of the nature of mind, and its susceptibilities, how often 
are a teacher's most industrious efforts worse than thrown away — perverting 
and destroying rather than improving ! Frequently, also, the good which is 
gained by judicious efforts in one du-ection is counteracted by a mistaken course 
in another. 

Under this head there should be a complete classification of the sources of 
influence, a close analysis of the peculiar n^-ture and causes of each, and of its 
applicability to educational purposes. There should be also a classification of 
the errors liable to be committed, with a similar analysis, and directions for avoid- 
ing them. It appears to me that there are some valuable discoveries yet to be 
made in this branch of knowledge ; and that, for the purposes of education, the 
powers of the mind are susceptible of a classification much better than that 
which has hitherto generally been adopted. 

3. The peculiarities of intellectual and moral development in children, as mod- 
ified by sex, parental character, wealth or poverty, city or country, family gov- 
ernment, indulgent or severe, fickle or steady, &c. 

These diversities all exist in every community, and exert a most important in- 
fluence on the developments of cMdren ; and no teacher can discharge his duties 
diligently and thoroughly without recognizing this extensive class of influences. 
The influence of sex is one of the most obvious, and no successful teacher, I be- 
Ueve, ever manages the boys and the guds of his school in precisely the same 
manner. But the other sources of influence are no less important. Parental 
character is one. Parents of high-minded and honorable feeling, will be hkely 
to impart something of the same spirit to their cliildren. Such children may be 
easily governed by appeals to their sense of character, and perhaps ruined by 
the application of the rod. If parents are mean-spirited and selfish, great allow- 
ance should be made for the failings of then* children, and double diligence em- 
ployed to cultivate in them a sense of honor. 

The different circumstances of wealth and poverty produce great differences 
in cluldren. The rich child generally requhes restraint, the poor one encourage- 
ment. When the poor are brought in contact with the rich, it is natm'al that the 
former should feel somewhat sensitive as to tlie distinctions which may obtain 
between them and their fellows ; and in such cases special pains should be taken 
to shield the sensibilities of the poor child against needless wounds, and maJ^e 
him feel that the poverty for which he is no way blamable is not to him a deg- 
radation. Otherwise he may become envious and misanthropic, or be discour- 
aged and unmanned. But how often does the reverse of this take place, to the 
great injury of the character both of the poor and the rich ! Surely it is mis- 
fortune enough to the suffering child that he has to bear the ills arising from 
ignorance or negligence, vice or poverty, in his parents ; and the school should be 
a refuge for him, where he can improve himself and be happy. 

_ Again, city and country produce diversities in cliildren alrnost as great as the 
difference of sex. City children are incHned to the ardent, quick, glowing tem- 
perament of the female ; country children lean more to the cooler, steadiei', 



208 STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

slower development of the male. City children are more excitable ; by the cir- 
cumstances in which they are placed, then- feehngs are kept in more constant and 
rapid motion, they are more easily moved to good, and have stronger tempta- 
tion to evil ; while country children, less excitable, less rapid in their advances 
toward either good or evil, present, in thek j^eculiarities, a broad and solid found- 
ation for characters of stable structure and enduring usefulness. Though human 
nature is every where the same, and schools present the same general character- 
istics ; yet the good country teacher, if he remove to the city, and would be 
equally successful there, will find it necessary to adopt several modifications of 
his former arrangements. 

Many other circumstances give rise to diversities no less important. It is the 
business of the Teachers' Seminary to arrange and classify these modifying influ- 
ences, and give to the pupil the advantages of an anticipated experience in re- 
spect to his method of proceeding in regard to them. No one will imagine that 
the teacher is to let his pupils see that he recognizes such differences among 
them ; he should be wise enough to keep his own counsel, and deal with each 
individual in such manner as the pecuhar circumstances of each may render most 
productive of good. 

4. The science of education in general, and full illustration of the difference 
between education and mere instruction. 

Science, in the modern acceptation of the term, is a plnlosophical classification 
and arrangement of all the facts wliich are observed in resjDect to any subject, 
and an investigation from these facts of the principles which regulate their oc- 
currence. Education affords its facts, and they are as numerous and as deeply 
interesting as the facts of any other science ; these facts are susceptible of as 
philosophical a classification and arrangement as the facts of chemistry or astron- 
omy ; and the principles which regulate their occurrence are as appropriate and 
profitable a subject of investigation as the principles of botany or zoology, or of 
politics or morals. I know it has been said by some, that education is not a sci- 
ence, and cannot be reduced to scientific principles ; but they who talk thus either 
make use of words without attaching to them any definite meaning, or they con- 
found the idea of education with that of the mere art of teaching. Even in this 
sense the statement is altogether erroneous, as will be shown under the next 
head. 

The teacher should be acquainted with these facts, with their classification, 
their arrangement and principles, before he enters on the duties of his profession ; 
or he is like the surgeon who would operate on the human body before he has 
studied anatomy, or the attorney who would commence practice before he has 
made himself acquainted with the first principles of law. 

It is a common error to confound education with mere instruction ; an error 
so common, indeed, that many writers on the subject use the words as nearly, if 
not entirely, synonymous. Instruction, however, comprehends but a very small 
part of the general idea of education. Education includes all the extraneous in- 
fluences which combine to the formation of intellectual and moral character ; 
while instruction is limited to that which is directly communicated from one mind 
to another. " Education and instruction (says Hooker) are the means, the one 
by use, the other by precept, to make our natural faculty of reason both the bet- 
ter and the sooner to judge rightly between truth and error, good and evil." A 
man may become well educated, though but poorly instructed, as was the case 
with Pascal and Franklin, and many others equally illustrious ; but if a man is 
well instructed, he cannot, without some great fault of liis own, fail to acquire a 
good edncatioti. Instruction is mostly the work of others ; education depends 
mainly on the use which we ourselves make of the circumstances by which we 
are surrounded. The mischiefs of defective instruction may often be repaired 
by our own subsequent eftorts ; but a gap left down in the line of om- education 
is not so easily put up, after the opportunity has once passed by. 

5. The art of teaching. 

The art of teaching, it is true, is not a science, and cannot be learned by theo- 
retic study alone, without practice. The model-school is appropriately the place 
for the acquisition of this art by actual practice ; but, like all the rational arts, 
it rests on scientific principles. The theoretical instruction, therefore, in this 
braach, will be limited mainly to a development of the principles on which it is 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. jQg 

founded ; while the application of those principles "wUl be illustrated, and the art 
of teaching acquhed, by instructing in the model-school under the care of the 
professors, and subject to their direction and remarks. The professor assigns to 
the pupil his class in the model-school, he observes his manner of teaching, anc' 
notices its excellences and defects ; and after the class is dismissed, and the stu 
dent is with him alone, or in company only with his fellow-students, he commends 
what he did well, shows him how he might have made the imperfect better, and 
the erroneous correct, pointing out, as he proceeds, the application of theoretic 
principles to practice, that the lessons in the model-school may be really an illus- 
tration of all that has been taught in the Teachers' Seminary. 

6. The ai-t of governing cliildren, with special reference to the imparting and 
keeping alive of a feehng of love for children. 

Children can be properly governed only by affection ; and affection, rightly 
du'ected, is all-powerful for this purpose. A school governed without love is a 
gloomy, mind-killing place ; it is like a nursery of tender blossoms filled with an 
atmosphere of frost and ice. Affection is the natm'al magnet of the muid in 
childhood ; the child's mind is fitted by its Creator to be moved by a mother's 
love ; and cold indifference or stern lovelessness repels and freezes it. In gov- 
erning children there is no substitute for affection, and God never intended there 
should be any. 

General rules can be given for the government of a school ; the results of ex- 
perience can be treasured up, systematized, and imparted ; the candidate for the 
teacher's ofiice can be exercised to close observation, patience, and self-control ; 
and all these are essential branches of instruction in the art of governing. StiU, 
if there be no feehng of love for children, all this wiU not make a good school- 
governor. There is great natural diversity in individuals in regard to this, as in 
all other affections ; yet every one whom God has fitted to be a parent has the 
elements of this affection, and these elements are susceptible of development 
and improvement. 

7. History of education, including an accurate outline of the educational sys- 
tems of different ages and nations ; the circumstances wlfich gave rise to them ; 
the jDrinciples on which they were fomided ; the ends which they aimed to ac- 
complish ; their successes and failures, their permanency and changes ; how far 
they influenced individual and national character ; how far any of them might 
have originated in ^jremeditated plan on the part of their founders ; whether 
they secui'ed the intelligence, virtue, and happiness of the people, or otherwise, 
with the causes, &c. 

To insm-e success in any pursuit, the experience of our predecessors is justly 
considered a valuable, and generally an indispensable aid. What should we 
think of one who claimed to be a profound politician while ignorant of the his- 
tory of pohtical science ; Avhile unacquainted with the origin of governments, the 
causes which have modified their forms and influences, the changes which have 
taken place in them, the different effects produced by various systems tuider di- 
verse influences, and of the thousand combinations in which the past treasures 
wisdom for the future ? What should we think of the lawyer who knew nothing 
of the history of law ? or of the astronomer, ignorant of the history of astrono- 
my ? In every science and every art we recognize the value of its appropriate 
history ; and there is not a single circumstance that gives value to such history, 
which does not apply, in all its force, to the history of education. Yet, strange 
to say, the history of education is entirely neglected among us ; there is not a 
work devoted to the subject in the English language ; and very few, indeed, 
which contain even notices or hints to guide one's inquiries on this deeply inter- 
esting theme. I wish some of those wiiters who complain that education is a 
hackneyed subject, a subject so often and so much discussed, that nothing new 
remains to be said upon it, would turn their inquhies in tliis direction, and I think 
they will find much, and that too of the highest utility, wliich wiU be entu-ely 
new to the greater part even of the reading population. 

Man has been an educator ever smce he became civihzed. A great variety of 
systems of public instruction have been adopted and sustained by law, which 
have produced powerful and enduring influences ; and are we to set sail on this 
boundless ocean entirely ignorant of the courses, and soundings, and discoveries 
of our predecessors ? 



110 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



The Hebrew nation, in its very origin, was subjected to a premeditated and 
thoroughly systematized course of national instruction, wliich produced the most 
wonderful influence, and laid the foundation for that peculiar hardihood and de- 
terminateness of character, which hare made them the astonishment of all ages, 
a miracle among nations. A full development of this system, and a careful illus- 
tration of the particulars wliich gave it its peculiar strength, and of the circum- 
stances which perverted it from good to evil, wliich turned strength into the 
force of hate, and perseverance into obstinacy, would be a most valuable contri- 
bution to the science of general education. The ancient Persians and Hindoos 
had ingenious and thoroughly digested systems of public instruction, entirely 
diverse from each other, yet each wonderfully efficacious in its own pecuUar way. 
The Greeks were a busily educating people, and great varieties of systems sprung 
up in their different states and under their different masters, all of them inge- 
nious, most of them effective, and some of them characterized by the highest 
excellences. Systems which we cannot and ought not to imitate, may be highly 
useful as warnings, and to prevent our trying experiments which have been often 
tried before, and failed to be useful. The Chinese, for example, have had for 
ages a system wliich is pecuharly and strictly national ; its object has always 
been to make them Chinese, and nothing else ; it has fully answered the purpose 
intended ; and what has been the result ?* A nation of machines, a people of 
patterns, made to order ; a set of men and women wound up like clocks, to go in 
a certain way, and for a certain time, with minds wonderfully nice and exact in 
certain little things ; but as stiff, as unsusceptible of expansion, as incapable of 
originating thought, or deviating from the beaten track, as one of their own gra- 
ven images is of navigating a sliii?. In short, they are very much such a people 
as the Americans might become in a few centuries, if some amiable enthusiasts 
could succeed in establishing what they are pleased to denominate a system ex- 
clusively American. Education, to be useful, must be expansive, must be imi- 
versal ; the mind must not be trained to run in one narrow channel : it must 
understand that human beings have thought, and felt, and acted, in other coun- 
tries than its own ; that the results of preceding efforts have theu' value, and 
that all light is not confined to its own little Goshen. 

When a science has become fixed as to its principles, when its facts are ascer- 
tained and well settled, then its history is generally written. Why, then, have 
we no history of education in our language ? Simply, because the science of 
education, with us, is yet in its infancy ; because, so far from being a hackneyed 
or an exhausted subject, on which nothing new remains to be said, its fundamen- 
tal principles are not yet so ascertained as to become the basis of a fixed science. 
It cannot be pretended that there are no materials for the composition of such a 
history. We are not destitute of uiformation respecting the educational systems 
of the most ancient nations, as the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Egyptians, and Cartha- 
ginians ; and in respect to the Hindoos, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, 
the Chinese, the modern Europeans, the materials for their educational liistory 
are nearly as ample as those for then- civil history ; and the former is quite as 
important to the educator as the latter is to the civilian. The brief and imper- 
fect, but highlj^ interesting sketches, given by Sharon Turner in liis History of 
England, afford sufficient proof of my assertion ; and they are to a full history of 
English education, as the first streaks of dawn to the risen sun. Should Teach- 
ers' Seminaries do nothing else than excite a taste and afford the materials for 
the successful pursuit of this branch of study only, they would more than repay 
all the cost of their establislmient and maintenance. Systems of education which 
formed and trained such minds as arose in Egypt, in Judea, in Greece — systems 
under whose influence such men as Moses and Isaiah, Solon, and Plato, and Paul, 
received those first impressions which had such commanding power over their 
mighty intellects, may afford to us many valuable suggestions. The several 
topics to wliich I have above alluded, as particularly worthy of notice in a his- 
tory of those systems, are too obviously important to require a separate illus- 
tration. 

8. The rules of health and the laws of physical development. 

The care of the body while we ai-e in this world is not less important than 

* See Note A, at the close of this article. 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS, 211 

the culture of the mind ; for, as a general fact, no mmd can -work vigorously in 
a feeble and comfortless body ; and Avhen the forecastle of a vessel sinks, the 
cabin must soon follo-w. The educating period of youth is the time most critical 
to health ; and the peculiar excitements and temptations of a course of study, 
add greatly to the natural dangers of the forming and developing seasons of 
life. Teachers, therefore, especially, should understand the rules of health, and 
the laws of pliysical development ; and it is impossible that they sliould under- 
stand them, unless they devote some tune to their study. What a ruinous waste 
of comfort, of strength, and of life, has there been in our educational establish- 
ments, iu consequence of the ignorance and neglect of teachers on this point ! 
And how seldom is this important branch of study ever thought of as a neces- 
sary qualification for the office of teacher ! 

As it is a most sacred duty of the teacher to preserve uninjured the powers 
of the mind, and keep them in a healthfid condition, so it is no less his duty to 
take the same care of the physical powers. The body should not only be kept 
in health, but its powers should be developed and improved with as much care 
as is devoted to the unprovement of the mind, that aU the capabilities of the 
man may be brought out and fitted for active duty. But can one know how 
to do this iff he never learns ? And will he be hkely to learn, unless he has op- 
portunity of learning ? It is generally regarded as the province of teachers to 
finish out and improve on Nature's plan ; but if they can all be brought to un- 
derstand their profession so well as not to mar and spoil what Nature made 
right, it will be a great improvement on the present condition of education in 
the world. 

9. Dignity and importance of the teacher's office. 

Self-respect, and a consciousness of doing well, are essential to comfort and 
success in any honorable calling; especially in one subject to so many external 
depressions, one so little esteemed and so poorly rewarded by the world at 
large, as that of the teacher. No station of so great importance has probably 
ever been so slightly estimated ; and the fault has been partly in the members 
of the profession itself. They have not estimated their official importance suffi- 
ciently high ; they have given a tacit assent to the superficial judgment of the 
world ; they have hung loosely on the profession, and too often abandoned it the 
first opportunity. They ought early to understand that their profession demands 
the strongest efforts of their whole lives ; that no employment can be more in- 
timately connected with the progress and general welfare of society ; that the 
best hojjes and tenderest wishes of parents and of nations depend on their skill 
and fidelity ; and that an incompetent or unworthy discharge of the duties of 
their office brings the community into the condition of an embattled host ivhen 
the standard-hearer faileth. If teachers themselves generally had a clear and 
definite conception of tlie immensely responsible place they occupy ; if they 
were skilled in the art of laying these conceptions vividly before the minds of 
the people among whom they labor, it would produce a great influence on the 
profession itself, by bringing it under the pressure of a mightier motive, and cause 
all classes of people more clearly to understand the inestimable worth of the 
good teacher, and make them more willing to honor and reward him. And this, 
too, would be the surest method of ridding the profession of such incumbents as 
are a disgi-ace to it, and an obstacle to its elevation and improvement. Julius 
Caesar was the ffi'st of the Romans who honored school-teachers by raising them 
to the rank of Roman citizens, and in no act of his life did he more clearly man- 
ifest that peculiar sagacity for wliich he was distinguished. 

10. Special rehgious obligations of teachers in respect to benevolent devoted- 
ness to the intellectual and moral welfare of society, habits of entne self-control, 
purity of mind, elevation of character, (fee. 

The duties of the teacher are scarcely less sacred or less delicate than those 
of the mmister of religion. In several important respects he stands in a similar 
relation to society ; and his motives and encouragements to effort must, to a con- 
siderable extent, be of the same class. It is not to be expected that teaching 
will ever become generally a lucrative profession, or that many will enter it for 
mere love of money, or tliat, if any should enter it from such a motive, they 
would ever be very useful in it. All teachers ought to have a comfortable sup- 
. port, and a competency for the time of sickness and old age ; but "what ought ta 



■j^Y2 STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

be and what is, in such a world as this, are often very different things. If a com- 
petency is gained by teaching, very few will ever expect to grow rich by it. 
Higher motives than the love of wealth must actuate the teacher in the choice 
of his profession, and animate him in the performance of its laborious duties. 
Such motives as the love of doing good, and peculiar affection for children, do 
exist in many minds, notwithstanding the general selfislmess of the world ; and 
these emotions, by a proper kind of culture, are susceptible of increase, till they 
become the predominant and leading desires. The teacher who has little benev- 
olence, and little love for children, must be a miserable being, as well as a very 
poor teacher ; but one who has these propensities strongly developed, and is not 
ambitious of distinction in the world of vanity and noise, but seeks his happiness 
in doing good, is among the happiest of men ; and some of the most remarkable 
instances of healthy and cheerful old age are found among school-teachers. As 
examples, I would mention old Ezekiel Cheever, who taught school in New Eng- 
land for seventy-one years without interruption, and died in Boston in the year 
1708, at the advanced age of ninety-three ; or Dr. G-. F. Dinter, now living at 
Konigsberg in Prussia, in the eightieth year of his age. Indeed, the ingenious 
author of Hermippus Redivivus affirms, that the breath of beloved children pre- 
serves the benevolent schoolmaster's health, as salt keeps flesh from putrefac- 
tion. In Prussia, school-teachers generally enter on their profession at the age 
of twenty-two or twenty -five, and the average term of service among the forty 
thousand teachers there employed is over thirty years, making the average du- 
ration of a teacher's life there nearly sixty years ; a greater longevity than can 
be found in any profession in the United States. Many teachers continue in the 
active discharge of their official duties more than fifty years; and the fiftieth 
anniversary of their induction to oflice is celebrated by a festival, and honored 
by a 'present from govermnent. 

The other quahties mentioned, self-control, purity of mind, elevation of char- 
acter, are so obviously essential to a teacher's usefulness, that they require no 
comment. We need only remark, that these are moral qualities, and can be 
cultivated only by moral means ; that they are religious quaUties, and must be 
excited and kept alive by religious motives. Will any one here raise the cry, 
Sectarianism, Church arid State ? I pity the poor bigot, or the narrow-souled 
unbeliever, who can form no idea of religious principle, except as a sectarian 
thing ; who is himself so utterly unsusceptible of ennobhng emotions, that he 
cannot even conceive it possible that any man should have a principle of vhtue 
and piety superior to all external forms, and untrammeled by metaphysical sys- 
tems. From the aid of such men, we have nothing to hope in the cause of sound 
education ; and their hostility we may as well encounter in one form as another, 
provided we make sure of the ground on which we stand, and hold up the right 
principles in the right shape. 

11. The influence which the school should exert on civilization and the prog- 
ress of society. 

It requires no great sagacity to perceive that the school is one of the most 
important parts of the social machine, especially in modern times, when it is 
fast acquiring for itself the influence which was wielded by the pulpit some two 
centuries ago, and which, at a more recent period, has been obtained by the pe- 
riodical press. As the community becomes separated into sects, which bigotry 
and intolerance force into subdivisions still more minute, the influence of the pul- 
pit is gradually circumscribed ; but no such causes limit the influence of the school. 
Teachers need only miderstand the position they occupy, and act in concert, to 
make the school the most effective element of modern civilization, not excepting 
even the periodical press. A source of influence so immense, and which draws 
so deeply on the destinies of man, ought to be thoroughly investigated and con- 
sidered, especially by those who make teaching their profession. Yet I know 
not, in the whole compass of English literature, a single work on the subject, 
notwithstanding that education is so worn out a theme, that nobody can say any 
thing new upon it. 

12. The elements of Latin, together with the German, French, and Spanish 
languages. 

The languages of Europe have received most of their refinement and their 
Bcience through the medium of the Latin ; and so largely are they indebted to 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. H^ 

this tongue, that the elements of it are necessary as a foundation for the study 
of the modern languages. That the German should be understood by teachers, 
especially in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Western States generally, is obvious 
from the fact, that more than half the school districts contain German parents 
and children, avIio are best approached through tlie medium of their own tongue ; 
and the rich abundance and variety of educational literature in this language, 
greater, I venture to say, than in ail other languages together, render it an ac- 
quisition of the highest importance to every teacher. In the present state of 
the commercial world one cannot be said to have acquired a business education 
without a knowledge of French ; while our intimate relations with Mexico and 
South America render the Spanish valuable to us, and, indeed, in the Western 
country, almost indispensable. The mental discipline which the study of these 
languages gives is of tlae most valuable kind, and the collateral information ac- 
quired while learning them is highly useful. Though a foreign tongue is a difiS- 
calt acquisition for an adult, it is very easy for a child. In the Rhine provinces 
of Germany, almost every clnld learns, without effort, both German and French, 
and, in the commercial cities, English also ; and the unschooled children of the 
Levant often learn four or five ditierent languages merely by the ear. I do not 
suppose that the modern languages will soon become a regular branch of study 
in aU our common schools; stiU, many who depend on those schools for their 
education, desire to study one or more of them, and they ought to have the op- 
portunity ; and if we would make our common schools our best schools, as they 
sm-ely ought to be, the teachers must be capable of giving instruction in some 
of these languages. 

I have thus endeavored to give a brief view of the course of study which 
should be pursued in a Teachers' Seminary, and this, I suppose, in itself, affords 
a strong and complete argument to establish the necessity of such an institution. 
A few general considerations in favor of this object wiU now be adduced. 

1. The necessity of specific provision for the education of teachers is proved 
by the analogy of all other professions and pursuits. 

To every sort of business in which men engage, some previous discipline is 
considered necessary ; and this idea, confirmed by all experience, proceeds on the 
miiversal and very correct assumption, that the human mind knows nothing of 
business by intuition, and that miraculous inspiration is not to be expected. A 
man is not thought capable of shoeing a horse, or making a hat, without serving 
an apprenticeship at the business. Why, then, should the task of the schoolmas- 
ter, the most difficult and dehcate of all, the management of the human mind, 
that most intricate and complex of machines, be left to mere intuition, be sup- 
posed to require no previous training ? That the profession of school-teacher 
should so long be kept so low in the scale of professions, that it should even now 
be so generally regarded as a pursuit which needs, and can reward, neither time 
nor pains spent in preparation for its important duties, is a plain proof and ex- 
ample of the extreme slowness of the human race to perfect the most important 
parts of the social system. 

2. A well-endowed, competent, and central institution, in a State, for the edu- 
cation of teachers, would give, in that State, oneness, dignity, and influence to 
the profession. 

It would be a point of union that would hold the profession together, and pro- 
mote that harmony and co-operation so essential to success. Teachers have been 
isolated and scattered, without a rallying-point or rendezvous ; and the wonder- 
ful influence which has been exerted by the Western college of teachers (and 
other similar institutions in the Eastern States), the whole secret of which is, 
tliat it affords a central point around which teachers may rally, is but a faint 
shadow of what might be accomplished by a well-endowed and ably-manned 
seminary. Let there be some nucleus around which the strength of the profes- 
sion may gather, and the community will soon feel its importance, and give it 
its due honor. 

This object cannot be accomplished by small institutions scattered through the 
State, nor by erecting teachers' departments in existing institutions. The aggi"e- 
gate expense of such an arrangement would be quite as great as that of endow- 
ing one good institution ; and without such an institution it would, after all, 

H 



114 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



accomplish but very little. It would be like distributing the waters of the canal 
to every little village iu the State, instead of having them run in one broad and 
deep channel, suitable for navigation. 

3. Such an institution would serve as a standard and model of education 
tJiroughout the community. 

The only reason why people are satisfied with an inferior system of common- 
school instruction is, that they have no experience of a better. No community 
ever goes voluntarily from a better to a worse, but the tendency and the effort 
generally are to rise in excellence. All our ideas of excellence, however, are 
comparative, and there will be little prospect of advancement unless we have a 
standard of comparison higher than any thing to which we have already attained. 

A well-managed institution at the seat of government, which should embody 
all real improvements, and hold up the highest standard of present attainment, 
being visited by the executive oiEcers, the legislatfjrs, the judges, the members 
of the bar, and other enlightened and influential men, who annually resort to the 
capital from every part of the State, would present a pattern to every school 
district, and excite emulation in every neighborhood. As an example of the 
rapidity with which improvements are taken, provided only there are appropri- 
ate channels for them to flow in, I may mention the practice of singing in schools, 
so recently introduced, and now so generally approved. 

4. Such an institution would produce concentration of effort ; its action would 
possess the vigor which strong sympathies impart ; and it would tend to a de- 
sirable uniformity in books and modes of teaching. 

I do not suppose that absolute perfection will ever be attained in the art of 
teaching ; and while absolute perfection is not reached, it is certain there ought 
not to be entire uniformity in boolcs and modes of teaching. But in this, as in all 
other human arts, there may be constant approximation toward the perfect ; 
and this progress must be gi-eatly accelerated by the concentration of effort, 
and the powerful sympathetic action of mind on mind, collected in one institution, 
and determined, as it were, to one focus. The action of such an institution would 
obviate the principal evils, now so strongly felt, arising from the diversity of 
books and methods ; it would produce as much uniformity as would be desirable 
in the existing stage of improvement ; and the more advanced the progress, the 
greater would be the uniformity. 

5. All experience (experience which we generally appeal to as the safest guide 
in all practical matters) has decided in favor of institutions sustained by govern- 
ment for the education of teachers. 

Wo country has ever yet obtained a sufficient number of well-qualified teachers 
in any other way ; while every government which has adopted this method, and 
vigorously pursued it, either has already gained the object, or is iu the fair way 
of gaining it, however luipromising the beginnings might have been. Ho country 
has ever been so well supplied with competent teachers as Prussia at the pres- 
ent moment, and yet, thirty years ago, the mass of school-teachers there was 
probably below the present average standard of i^ew England and Ohio. Din- 
ter gives several examples of ignorance and incapacity during the first years of 
Ids official labor in East Prussia, which we should scarcely expect to find any 
where in the United States ; and the testimony of Dr. Juhus before the British 
House of Commons, which waa published m connection with my last report to the 
Legislature of Ohio, gives a similar view of the miserable condition of the Prus- 
sian schools at that time. 

Now, what has been the great means of effecting so desirable an object in 
Prussia ? Obviously, and by universal acknowledgment, the establishment of 
seminaries for the education of teachers.* The experiment was commenced by 
placing one in each of the ten provinces into which the kingdom is divided 
(equivalent to having one in each of the several States of this Union) ; and as 
their utility was tested, their number was increased ; till now there are more 
than foi'ty for a population of fourteen millions. Wirtemberg, Bavaria, Austria, 
Russia, Holland, France, and all other countries which desire to obtain a sufficient 
number of well-qualified teachers, find it necessary to follow this example ; and 
I do not believe the United States are an exception to so general a rule. Indeed, 

* See Notes B and C, at the dose of this article. 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 115 

such institutious must be even moi-e necessary for us than for them, smce, from 
the crowded state of the professions in old countries, there is much greater com- 
petition for the appointment of schoolmaster there than here. 

It now only remains that I state a few of tlie more prominent objections 
■which are sometimes made to these institutions, and endeavor to answer them. 

1. " Such institutions are unnecessary. We have had good teachers without 
them, and may have good teachers still." 

This is the old stereotyped objection against every attempt at improvement 
in every age. When the bold experiment was first made of nailing hon upon a 
horse's hoof, the objection was probably urged that horseshoes were entirely un- 
necessary. " We have had excellent horses without them, and sliall probably 
continue to have them. The Greeks and Romans never used iron horseshoes : 
and did not they have the best of horses, which could travel thousands of miles, 
and bear on their backs the conquerors of the world ?" So, when chimneys and 
glass windows were first introduced, the same objection would still hold good. 
" We have had very comfortable houses without these expensive additions. Our 
fathers never had them, and why should we ?" And at this day, if we were to 
attempt, in certain parts of the Scottish Highlands, to introduce the practice of 
wearing pantaloons, we should probably be met with the same objection. " We 
have had very good men Avithout pantaloons, and no doubt we shall continue to 
have them." In fact, we seldom know the inconveniences of an old thing till we 
have taken a new and better one in its stead. It is scarcely a yeai" since the 
ISTew York and European sailing packets were supposed to afford the very ne 
plus ultra of a comfortable and speedy passage across the Atlantic ; but now, in 
comparison with the newly-established steam-packets, they are justly regarded 
as a slow, uncertain, and tedious mode of conveyance. The human race is pro- 
gressive, and it often happens that the greatest conveniences of one generation 
are reckoned among the clumsiest waste lumber of the next. Compare the best 
printing-press at which Dr. FrankUn ever worked, with those splendid machines 
which now throw off their thousand sheets an hour ; and who will put these down 
by repeating, that Dr. Franklin was a very good printer, and made very good 
books, and became quite rich without them ? 

I know that we have good teachers already ; and I honor the men who have 
made themselves good teachers, with so little encouragement-, and so little op- 
portunity of study. But I also know that such teachers are very few, almost 
none, in comparison with the pubhc wants ; and that a supply never can be 
expected without the increased facihties which a good Teachers' Seminary would 
furnish. 

2. " Such an institution would be very expensive." 

True, it wovild cost more than it would to build a stable, or fence in a few 
acres of ground ; and in this view of the matter a canal is expensive, and so is 
a public road, and many other things which the pubhc good requires, and the 
people are willing to pay for. The only questions worthy of answer are : 
Whether the expense be disproportionate to the object to be secured by it ? and 
whether it be beyond the resoiu-ces of the country '] To both these questions I 
unhesitatingly answer, No. The object to be secm-ed is one which would fuUy 
justify any amount of expense that might be laid out upon it ; and all that need 
be done might be done, and not a man in the State feel the poorer for it. We 
could not expect a perfect institution at once. We must begin where we are, 
and go forward by degrees. A school sufficient for all present purposes might 
well be maintained for five thousand dollars a year ; and what is that for States 
with resources like most of the States of this Union, and for the sake of secur- 
ing an object so great as the perfection of the school system ? If the kingdom 
of Prussia, with fourteen millions of people, two-thirds of whom are very poor, 
and the other third not very rich, can support forty-two Teachers' Seminaries, 
surely such States as Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and others, with pop- 
ulations of more than a milUon, none of whom are very poor, and many fast 
growing rich, can afford to support one. 

3. " We cannot be certain that they who study in such institutions would de- 
vote themselves to the business of teaching." 

This objection apphes with equal force to all professional institutions ; and if 
it is of any weight against a Teachers' Seminary, it is equally available against 



116 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



a medical school. The objection, however, has very Utile weight ; for after a man 
lias prepared himself for a profession, he generally wishes to engage in it, if he 
is competent to discharge its duties ; and if he is not competent, the pubUc are 
no losers by his withdrawal. 

But let it even be supposed that a Teachers' Seminary should be established 
on the plan above sketched out, and occasionally a man should go successfully 
through the prescribed course of study, and not engage in teaching; are the 
pubhc the losers by it ? Is the man a worse member of society after such a 
course of study, or a better ? Is he less interested in schools, or less able to 
perform the duties of a school officer, or less qualified to give a useful direction 
to the system among the people, than he would have been without such a course 
of study ? Is he not manifestly able to stand on higher ground in all these re- 
spects, than he otherwise could have done ? The benefit which the public would 
derive from such men out of the profession (and such would be useful in every 
school district) would amply remunerate all the expenses of the establishment. 
But such cases would be too few to avail much on either side of the argument ; 
certainly, m any view of them, they can argue nothing against the establishment 
of Teachers' Seminaries. 

4. " Teachers educated in such an institution would exclude aU others from 
the profession." 

Not unless the institution could furnish a supply for all the schools, and they 
were so decidedly superior that the people would prefer them to all others ; in 
which case certainly the best interests of education demand that the statement in 
the objection should be verified in fact. But the success of the institution will 
not be so great and aU-absorbing as this. It will not be able at once to supply 
half the number of teachers needed, and all who are educated in it wUl not be 
superior to every one who has not enjoyed its advantages. There is great di- 
versity of natural gifts ; and some, with very slender advantages, wiU be superior 
to others who have been in possession of every facility for acquisition. That such 
an institution will elevate the standard of qualification among teachers, and crowd 
out those who notoriously fall below this standard, is indeed true ; but this, so 
far from being an objection, is one of its highest recommendations. 

5. " One such institution cannot afford a sufficient supply for all the schools." 
This is readily conceded ; but people generally admit that half a loaf is better 

than no bread, especially if they are Imngry. K we have a thousand teachers, 
it is much better that three hundred of the number should be well qualified, 
than that all should be incompetent ; and five hundred would be still better than 
three hundred, and seven hundred better than either, and the whole thousand 
best of all. We must begin as weU as we can, and go forward as fast as we are 
able ; and not be like the poor fool who will not move at all, because the first 
step he takes from his own door will not land him at once in the place of his 
destination. The first step is a necessary preliminaiy to the second, and the sec- 
ond to the third, and so on till all the steps are taken, and the journey completed. 
The educated teacher will exert a reforming influence on those who have not 
been so well prepared ; he will elevate and enlarge theu- views of the duties of 
the profession, and greatly assist them in their endeavors after a more perfect 
qualification.* He will also excite capable young men among liis pupils to en- 
gage in the profession ; for one of the greatest excitements of the young to en- 
gage in any business, is to see a superior whom they respect in the successful 
prosecution of it. 

Every well-educated teacher does much toward qualifying those who are al- 
ready in the profession witliout sufficient preparation, and toward exciting others 
to engage in it ; and thus, though the institution cannot supply nearly teachers 
enough for all the schools, yet all the schools will be better taught in consequence 
of its influence. Moreover, a State mstitution would be the parent of many 
others, which would gradually arise, as their necessity would be appreciated 
from the perceived success of the first. 

6. " The wages of teachers are not sufficient to induce teachers so well edu- 
cated to engage in the profession." 

At present this is true ; for wages are generally graduated according to the 

* See Note D, at the close of this article. 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



IIT 



aggregate merit of the profession, and this, hitherto, has not been very great. 
People will not pay high for a poor article ; and a disproportionate quantity of 
poor articles in market, which are offered cheap, will affect the price of the good, 
with the generality of purchasers. But let the good be supplied in such quanti- 
ties as to make the people acquainted with it, and it will soon drive out the bad, 
and command its own price. The establishment of a Teachers' Seminary will 
raise the wages of teachers, by increasing then- quaUfications, and augmenting 
the real value of their services ; and people eventuallj'^ will pay a suitable com- 
pensation for good teaching, with much less grudging than they have hitherto paid 
the cheap wages of poor teachers, which, after all, as has been well observed, is 
but " buying ignorance at a dear rate."* 



NOTES. 

(A.) 

CHINESE EDUCATION. 



There is a regular system of schools in China of two kinds — the people's schools, 
and schools for the nobles. The course commences when the cliild is five years 
old, and is continued very rigorously, with but few and short vacations, to the 
age of manhood. In the people's schools the course consists of four parts, each 
of which has its appropriate book. The first is called Pe-kia-sing, and contains 
the names of persons in one hundred families, which the children must commit to 
memory. The second is called Tsa-tse, and contains a variety of matters neces- 
saiy to be known in the common business of life. The third is called Tsien-tse- 
ouen, a collection of one thousand alphabetical letters. The fourth is San-tse- 
king, a collection of verses of three syllables each, designed to teach the elements 
of Chinese morals and history. Such is the provision for the common people. 

For the nobles there is a great university at Pekiu, the Koue-tze-kien, to which 
every mandarin is allowed to send one of his sons. The candidate for admission 
must go fii-st to the governor of a city of the third rank for examination, and if 
approved, he receives the degree of Hien-ming. He then goes to the governor 
of a city of the first rank, and, if he maintains a good examination there, is ad- 
mitted to the miiversity. 

A mandarin is annually sent out from Pekin, to visit the higher institutions 
in the larger cities, and to confer degrees on the pupils, according to their prog- 
ress. A class of four hundred is selected, and passes through ten examinations. 
The fifteen who have acquitted themselves best in all these examinations, re- 
ceive the degree of Sinoa-tsay, the most important privilege of which is, that they 
are no longer liable to be whipped with the bamboo. Rich men's sons, who can- 
not always obtain this degree by a successful passage through the ten examina- 
tions, can procure the equivalent degree of Kien-song by paying a stipulated sum 
into the pubhc treasury. Having attained either of these lower degrees, the 
pupil, after three years, can offer himself at Pekiu for the higher degree of Kin- 
jin, wliich must be obtained after rigorous examination. The successful appUcants 
for this honor, after one year longer, can demand at Pekin an examination for the 
highest academical degi-ee, that of Tsin-tse. He who obtains this is congratu- 
lated and feasted by his friends ; he is regarded with veneration by the people, is 
eligible to the highest office in the State, and may be raised by the Emperor to 
the dignity of Han-lin. 

Tlie Emperor himself is required to be a man of learning, and the care of his 

* The New England practice of having district sehools taught by college-students, during their 
winter vacation, has been of great and acknowledsjed utility both to the teachers and the schools. 
I have no desire to discourage this good old practice ; for I apprehend that our common district 
schools, for many years to come, will need the services of temporary teachers of this kind. It is 
to be wished, however, that our colleges would make some provision for the special instruction 
•of such students as engage in teaching. It would not only make their teachers much more val- 
uable, but would fit them also to become school-examiners and inspectors after they have leSi 
the vocation of schoolmaster for some more lucrative employment. 



;^jg STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

early education is committed to a special college of learned men, called Tsclies- 
8za-fu ; and he is regarded in law as the educator and instructor of his people, aa 
well as their ruler. In each village there is a public hall, where the civil and 
military functionaries assemble on the first and fifteenth of every month, and a 
discourse is delivered to them on the Sacred Edict. This Sacred Edict contains, 
1. The principles of Khong-hi, an ancient emperor. 2. A commentary by his son 
Young-tching, who reigned about the year 1700 ; and, 3. A paraphrase by Wang- 
yeou-po. It was translated into English by Rev. W. Milne, Protestant Mission- 
ary at Malacca, and printed in London in 1817. 

In the above brief sketch, it is plain that the Chinese have a great veneration 
for learning, and that the emoluments and honors of the empire are designed to 
be accessible to those only who have taken academical degrees. But the whole 
system is arranged to make them Chmese. It excludes every thing of foreign 
origin, it admits neither improvement nor variation, and the result is manifest iu 
the character of the people. 

Some, however, of our modern improvements have long been known and prac- 
ticed in the Chinese schools. Such as the practice of the children reading and re- 
peating together in choir, the art of mnemonics, and others of the like kind. — See 
Schwartz's Geschichte der Erziehung, vol. i. p. 68-75. 



(B.) 

PRUSSIAN SCHOOLS, A FEW YEARS AGO. 

The following questions and answers are from Dr. Julius's testimony, before 
the Committee of the British House of Commons, in 1834, respecting the Prus- 
sian School System. 

" Do you remember, from your own knowledge, what the character and attain- 
ments of the schoolmasters were previous to the year 1819 ?" 

" I do not recollect ; but I know they were very badly composed of non-com- 
missioned oificers, organists, and half-drunken people. It has not risen like a 
fountain at once. Since 1770, there has been much done in Prussia, and through- 
out Germany, for promoting a proper education of teachers, and by them of 
children." ^, 

" In yom- own observation has there been any very marked improvement in 
the character and attaiimients of schoolmasters, owing to the pains taken to which 
you have referred ?" 

" A very decided improvement." 

Dinter, in his autobiography, gives some surprising specimens of gross incapa- 
city in teachers, even subsequent to 1819. The following anecdotes are fsom 
that mteresting work, Dinters Lehen von ihm selbst beschrieben. 

In the examination of a school in East Prussia, which was taught by a subal- 
tern officer dismissed from the army, the teacher gave Dinter a specimen of his 
skill in the illustration of Scripture narrative. The passage was Luke vii., the 
miracle of raising the widow's son at Nain. " See, children (says the teacher), 
Nain was a great city, a beautiful city ; but even in such a great, beautiful city, 
there lived people wlio must die. They brought the dead youth out. See, chil- 
dren, it was the same then as it is now — dead people couldn't go alone — they 
had to be carried. He that wait dead began to speak. This was a sure sign that 
he was alive again, for if he had continued dead he couldn't have spoken a word." 

In a letter to the King, a dismissed schoolmaster complained that the district 
was indebted to him 200705 dollars. Dinter supposed the man must be insane, 
and wrote to the physician of the place to mquire. The physician replied that 
the poor man was not insane, but only ignorant of the numeration table, Avriting 
200 70 5 instead of 275. Dinter subjoins, " By the help of God, the King, and 
good men, very much has now been done to make things better." 

In examining candidates for the school-teachers office, Dinter asked one where 
the Kingdom of Prussia was situated. He rephed, that he believed it was some- 
where in the southern part of Lidia. He asked another the cause of the ignis- 
fatuus, commonly called Jack-with-the-lantern. He said they were specters 
made by the devil. Another being asked why he wished to become a school- 
teacher, replied, that he must get a living somehow. 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. Hg 

A military man of great influence once urged Dinter to recommend a disabled 
soldier, in whom he was interested, as a school-teacher. " I will do so," says Din- 
ter, " if he sustains the requisite examination." " 0," says the Colonel, " he doesn't 
know much about school-teaclaing, but he is a good, moral, steady man, and I 
hope you will recommend him to oblige me." D. — yes, Colonel, to oblige you, 
if you in your turn will do me a favor. Col. — "What is that ? B. — Get me ap- 
pointed drum-major in your regiment. True, I can neither beat a drum, nor play 
a fife ; but I am a good, moral, steady man as ever lived. 

A rich landholder once said to him, " Wliy do you wish the peasant children 
to be educated ? it will only make them unruly and disobedient." Dinter re- 
plied, " If the masters are wise, and the laws good, the more intelligent the peo- 
ple, the better they wiU obey." 

Dinter complained that the military system of Prussia was a great hinderance 
to the schools. A nobleman replied that the young men enjoyed the protection 
of the government, and were thereby bound to defend it by arms. Dinter asked 
if every stick of timber in a house ought first to be used in a fire-engine, because 
the house was protected by the engine ? or whether it would be good policy to 
cut down aU the trees of an orchard to build a fence with, to keep the hogs from 
eating the fruit ? 



(C.) 

SCHOOL-COUNSELOR DINTER. 

GusTAvus Fredeeick Dinter was born at a village near Leipsic, in 1760. He 
first distinguished himself as principal of a Teachers' Seminar}^ in Saxony, whence 
he was invited by the Prussian government to the station of School-Counselor 
for Eastern Prussia. He resides at Konigsberg, and about ninety days in the 
year he spends in visiting the schools of his province, and is incessantly employed 
nearly thirteen hours a day for the rest of liis tune, in the active duties of hia 
office ; and that he may devote himself the more exclusively to his work, he lives 
umnarried. He complains that his laborious occupation prevents his writing as 
much as he wishes for the public, yet, in addition to his official duties, he lectures 
several times a week, durmg term-time, in the University at Konigsberg, and 
always has in his house a number of indigent boys, whoso education he superin- 
tends, and, though poor himself, gives them board and clothing. He has made 
it a rule to spend every Wednesday afternoon, and, if possible, one whole day 
in the week besides, in writing for the press ; and thus, by making the best use 
of every moment of time, though he was nearly forty years old before his ca- 
reer as an author commenced, he has contrived to publish more tlian sixty origi- 
nal works, some of them extending to several volumes, and all of them popular. 
Of one book, a school catechism, fifty thousand copies were sold previous to 1830 ; 
and of his large work, the School-Teacher's Bible, in 9 volumes 8vo, thii-ty thou- 
sand copies were sold in less than ten years. 

He is often interrupted by persons who are attracted by his fame, or desu'e 
his advice ; and while conversing with his visitors, that no time may be lost, he 
employs himself in knitting ; and thus not only supplies himself with stockings 
and mittens, suited to that cold climate, but always has some to give away to 
indigent students and other poor people. His disinterestedness is quite equal to 
his activity, and of the income of his publications, he devotes annually nearly 
five hundred dollars to benevolent purposes. Unweariedly industrious, and 
rigidly economical as he is, he lays up nothing for himself He says, " I am one 
of those happy ones, who, when the question is put to them, ' Lack ye any thing V 
(Luke xxii. 35), can answer with joy, 'Lord, nothing.' To have more than one 
can use is superfluity ; and I do not see how tliis can make any one happy. 
People often laugh at me, because I Avill not incur the expense of drinking w^ine, 
and because I do not wear richer clothing, and live in a more costly style. Laugh 
away, good people ; the poor boys, al^, whose education I pay for, and for whom, 
besides, I can spare a few dollars for Christmas gifts, and new-year's presents, 
they have their laugh too." 

Toward the close of his autobiography, he says respecting the King of Prus- 
sia, " I live happily under Frederick William ; he has just given me one hundred 



120 STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. ' 

and thirty thousand dollars to build churches with in destitute places ; he has 
established a new Teachers' Seminary for my poor Polanders, and he has so ful- 
filled my every wish for the good of posterity, that I can myself hope to live to 
see the time when there shall be no schoolmaster in Prussia more poorly paid 
than a common laborer. He has never hesitated, during the whole term of my 
office, to grant me any reasonable request for the helping forward of the school- 
system. God bless him 1 I am with all my heart a Prussian. And now, my 
friends, when ye hear that old Dinter is dead, say, ' May he rest in peace ; he 
was a laborious, good-hearted, religious man ; he was a Christian.' " 

A few such men in the United States would effect a wonderful change in the 
general tone of our educational efforts. 



(D.) 

IMPROVEMENT OF SCHOOL-TEACHERS. 

At the commencement of the late school efforts in Prussia, for the benefit of 
teachers already in the profession who had not possessed the advantages of a 
regular training, it was the custom for them to assemble during the weeks of 
vacation in their schools, and, under the care of a competent teacher, go through 
a regular course of lessons for their improvement. Of the entke course a care- 
ful and minute journal was kept and transmitted to the government. The fol- 
lowing is from the journal of a four weeks' course of this kind, which was held 
at Regenwald in 1821, under the charge of School-Counselor Bernhardt. The 
King gave his special approbation of this journal, and caused a large number of 
copies to be printed and circulated throughout the kingdom. The Minister of 
Public Instruction expresses himself respecting it in the following terms : — 

"The view presented and acted upon by School-Counselor Bernhardt, that 
the important point is not the quantity and variety of knowledge communicated, 
but its solidity and accuracy ; and that the foundation of aU true culture consists 
in the education to piety, the feai- of God, and Christian humility ; and, accord- 
ingly, that those dispositions, before all things else, must be awakened and con- 
firmed in teachers, that thereby they may exercise love, long-suffering, and 
cheerfulness, in their difficult and laborious calling — these prmciples are the only 
correct ones, according to which the education of teachers every where, and in 
all cases, can and ought to be conducted, notwithstanding the regard which must 
be had to the peculiar circumstances and the intellectual condition of particular 
provinces and communities. The Ministry hereby enjoin it anew upon the Re- 
gency, not only to make these principles their guide in their own labors in the 
common schools and Teachers' Seminaries, but also to commend and urge them 
in the most emphatic manner on all teachers and pupils in their jurisdiction. 
That this will be faithfully done, the Ministry expect with so much the more 
confidence, because in this way alone can the supreme will of his Majesty the 
King, repeatedly and earnestly expi-essed, be fulfilled. Of the manner in which 
the Regency execute tliis order, the Ministry expect a Report, and only remark 
further, that as many copies of the journal as may be needed will be supplied." 

The strongly religious character of the instructions in the following journal will 
be noticed ; but will any Christian find fault with this characteristic, or with the 
King and Ministry for commending it ? 

The journal gives an account of the employment of every hour in the day, from 
half past six in the morning to a quarter before nine in the evening. Instead of 
making extracts from different parts of it, I here present the entire journal for 
the last week of the course, that the reader may have the better opportunity of 
forming liis own judgment on the real merits of the system. 

FOURTH WEEK. 

Monday, Oct. 22. — A. M. 6J-7. Meditation. Teachers and parents, forget not 
that your children are men, and that, as s?ich, they have the ability to become 
reasonable. God will have all men to come to the knowledge of the truth. As 
men, our children have the dignity of men, and a right to life, cultivation, honor, 
and truth. This is a holy, inaUenable right, that is, no man can divest himself oi 



STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 121 

it without ceasing to be a man. T-S^. Bible instruction. Reading the Bible, 
and verbal analysis of what is read. Jesus in the wilderness. 9-12. Writing. 
Exercise in small letters. P. M. 2-5. Wiiting as before. 5^7. Singing. 8-8|. 
Meditation. Our schools should be Christian schools for Christian children, and 
Jesus Christ should be daily the chief teacher. One thing is needful. Jesus 
Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. The great end of our schools, 
therefore, is the instruction of children in Christianity ; or the knowledge of heav- 
enly truths in hope of eternal life ; and to answer the question. What must I do 
to be saved ? Our children, as they grow up, must be able to say, from the con- 
viction of their hearts. We know and are sure that thou art the Clirist, tlie Son 
of the living God. Beloved teachers, teach no Christianity without Chi-ist, and 
know that there cannot be a living faith without knowledge and love. 

Tuesday, Oct. 23. — A. M. 6-7. Meditation. Christian schools are the gardens 
of God's Spirit, and the plantations of humanity, and, therefore, holy places. How 
dreadful is this place ! Tliis is none other than the house of God. Teachers, 
venerate yoiu- schools — regard the sacred as sacred. T-SJ. Bible instruction. 
Reading of the Bible and verbal analysis of what is read. Luke xv. 1-10. 8^9. 
Catechism. Repeating the second article witli proper emphasis, and the neces- 
sary explanation of terms. 10-12. Writing. Exercise in German capitals, with 
the writing of syllables and words. P. M. 1-4. General repetition of the instruc- 
tions for school-teachers given during the month. 4-5. Brief instruction respect- 
ing school discipline and school laws. 5-7. Singing. 8-8^. Meditation. Teach- 
ers, you should make your school a house of prayer, not a den of murderers. 
Thou shalt not kill — that is, thou shalt do no injury to the souls of thy children. 
This you will do if you are an ungodly teacher, if you neglect your duty, if you 
keep no order or discipline in yom- school, if you instruct the children badly, or 
not at all, and set before them an injurious example. The children will be in- 
jured also by hurrying through the school-prayers, the texts, and catechism, and 
by all thoughtless reading and committing to memory. May God help you ! 

Wednesday, Oct. 24. — 6-6 1. Meditation. Dear teachers, you labor, for the good 
of mankind and the kingdom of God ; be, therefore, God's instruments and co- 
workers. Thy kingdom come. In all things approving ourselves as the ministers 
of God. 6|-8|. Bible instruction as before, John iv. 1-15. 8A-9. Catechism. The 
correct and emphatic reading and repeating of the first section, with brief expla- 
nation of terms. 10-12. Instruction in school discipUne and school laws. P. M. 
1-8. Instruction in the cultivation of fruit-trees. For instruction in tliis branch 
of economy, the school is arranged in six divisions, each under the care of a 
teacher acquainted with the business, with whom they go into' an orchard, and 
under liis mspection perform all the necessary work. General principles and 
directions are written in a book, of which each student has a copy. More cool- 
ing is the shade, and more sweet the fruit, of the tree which thine own hands 
have planted and cherished. 3-5. Instruction in school discipUne and school 
laws. 5i-^. Singing. 8-9. Meditation. The Christian school-teacher is also a 
good husband and father. Blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, 
of good behavior, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy 
lucre, patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, 
having his children in subjection, with all gravity. He that readeth, let him 
understand. 

Thursday, Oct. 25. — A. M. 6-6|. Meditation. Dear teachers, do all in your 
power to live in harmony and peace with yom* districts, that you may be a 
helper of tlie parents in the bringing up of their children. Endeavor to main- 
tain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. As much as in you lies, live 
peaceably with all men. 6|-9. Bible instruction as before, Luke vii. 11-17. 
Reading by sentences, by words, by syllables, by letters. Reading according to 
the sense, with questions as to the meaning. Understandest thou what thou 
readest ? 10-11. Instructions as to prayer in schools. Forms of prayer suitable 
for teachers and children are copied and committed to memory. Lord, teach us 
to pray. 11-12. Writmg. Exercise in capitals and writing words. P. M. 2-3. 
Instruction respecting prayer in tlie family and in the school. Forms of prayer 
for morning and evening, and at tlie table, are copied, with instructions that 
school children should commit them to memory, that they may aid their parents 
to an edifying performance pf the duty of family worship ; that, as the school 



122 STOWE ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

thus helps the family, so the family also may help the school. Use not vain 
repetitions. 3-5. Bible instruction. General views of the contents of the Bible^ 
and how the teacher may communicate, analyze, and explain them to his chil- 
dren, yearly, at the commencement of the winter and summer terms. 5J-7. 
Singing. 8-9. Meditation. Teachers, acquire the confidence and love of your 
districts, but never forsake the direct path of duty. Fear God, do right, and be 
afraid of no man. The world, with its lusts, passeth away, but he that doeth the 
will of God shall abide forever. 

Friday, Oct. 26. — Meditation. Teachers, hearken to the preacher, and labor 
into his hands ; for he is placed over the Church of God, who will have the 
school be an aid to the Church. Remember them that labor among you, and are 
over you in the Lord, and esteem them highly in love for their works' sake. 
Neither is he that planteth any thing, nor he that watereth any thing, but God 
who giveth the increase. 1-9. Bible instruction. Summary of the contents of 
the Bible, to be committed to memory by children from ten to fifteen years of 
age. 10-12. Bible instruction. Brief statement of the contents of the historical 
books of the JSTew Testament. P. M. 1-5. Bible instruction. Contents of the 
doctrinal and prophetical books of the New Testament. Selection of the pas- 
sages of the New Testament proper to be read in a country school. A guide 
for teachers to the use of the Bible in schools. 5-7. Suiging. 8-9. Meditation. 
Honor and love, as a good teacher, thy King and thy father-land ; and awake 
the same feelings and sentiments in the hearts of thy children. Fear God, honor 
the King, seek the good of the country in which you dwell, for "when it goes well 
with it, it goes well with thee. 

Saturday, Oct. 27. — 6-6^. Meditation. By the life in the family, the school, 
and the church, our heavenly Father would educate us and our children for our 
earthly and heavenly home ; therefore parents, teachers, and preachers, should 
labor hand in liaud. One soweth and another reapeth. I have laid the founda- 
tion, another buildeth thereon; and let every man take heed how he buildeth 
thereon. Means of education : 1. In the family — the parents, domestic life, hab- 
its ; 2. In the school — the teacher, the instruction, the discipline ; 3. In the church 
— the preaching, the word, the sacraments. 6-^-9-^. Bible instruction. Rules 
whicli the teaclier should observe in reading the Bible. In analyzing it. In re- 
spect to the contents of the Old Testament books, and selections from them for 
reading, written instructions are given and copied, on account of the shortness 
of the time which is here given to this topic. 10-12. Bible instruction. Gen- 
eral repetition. P. M. 1-4. Bible instruction. General repetition. 4—5. Reading. 
Knowledge of the German language, with written exercises. 7-10^. Review 
of the course of instruction and the journal. lOi-12. Meditation. The prayer 
of Jesus (John xvii.), with particular reference to our approaching separation. 

Sunday, Oct. 28. — 6-|— 9. Morning prayer. Catechism. Close of the term. (In 
the open air on a hill at sunset) singing and prayer. Address by the head teacher. 
Subject. What our teacher would say to us when we separate from him. 1. What 
you have learned apply well, and follow it faithfully. If ye know tliese things, 
happy are ye if ye do them. 2. Learn to see more and more clearly that you 
know but little. We know m j^art. 3. Be continually learning, and never get 
weary. The man has never lived who has learned all that he might. 4. Be 
yourself what you would have your cliildren become. Become as little children. 
5. Let God's grace be your highest good, and let it strengthen you in the difii- 
culties whicli you must encounter. My grace is sufficient for thee — my strength 
is perfect in thy weakness. 6. Keep constantly in mmd the Lord Jesus Christ. 
He has left us an example that we should follow his steps. Hymn — Lord Jesus 
Christ, liearken thou to us. Prayer. Benediction. 

Review of the hours spent in different studies during the four weeks. Arith- 
metic, sixty -seven ; writing, fifty-six ; Bible, twenty -five ; meditation, thirty -six ; 
other subjects, twenty-six ; singing, twenty-eight. Total, two hundred and 
thirty-eight. From nine to ten, in the morning, was generally spent in walking to- 
gether, and one hour in the afternoon was sometimes spent in tlie same manner. 

Familiar lectures were given on the following topics : 1. Directions to teachers 
as to the knowledge and right use of the Bible in schools. 2. Directions to teach- 
ers respecting instruction in wi'iting. 3. Directions for exercises in mental arith- 
metic. 4. Instructions respecting school discipline and school laws. 5. A col- 



STOVt'E ON NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



123 



lection of prayers for the school and family, with directions to teachers. 6. The 
German parts of speech, and how they may be best taught in a country school. 
•7. The day-book. 

Printed books were the following: 1. Dinter's Arithmetic. 2. Dinter on 
Guarding against Fnes. 3. Brief Biography of Luther. 4. On the Cultivation 
of Fruit-Trees. 5. German Grammar. 6. Baumgarten's Letter- Writer for 
Country Schools. 1. Luther's Catechism. 

That which can be learned and practiced in the short space of a few weeks, is 
only a little — a very little. But it is not of so much importance that we have 
more knowledge than others ; but most depends on this, that I have the right 
disposition ; and that I thoroughly understand and faithfuUy follow out the little 
which I do know. 

God help me, that I may give all which I have to my school ; and that I, with 
my dear chUdi-en, may, above all things, strive after that which is from above. 
Father in heaven, grant us strength and love for this. 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF AN 

EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY, IN 1838. 



In the autumn of 1834, Rev. Charles Brooks, pastor of a church in 
Hingham, commenced his labors in behalf of common schools, and parti- 
cularly of the establishment of a state system of supervision, and of a Nor- 
mal School. Mr. Brooks had become interested in these features of a 
system of public education during a visit to Europe, and from an oppor- 
tunity of becoming well acquainted with the details of the Prussian 
system, in conversation with Dr. Julius, who was his companion across 
the Atlantic, during his voyage home, when the latter gentleman was 
on his visit to this country on a commission from the Government of Prus- 
sia, to examine into our system of prison discipline. As will be seen 
hereafter, that visit was twice blessed — it helped, by disseminating a 
knowledge of our improvements in prisons, and our amelioration of the 
criminal code, to advance the cause of humanity in Europe, and make 
known among our statesmen and educators the progress which had been 
made in Germany in the means and agencies of popular education. Mr. 
Brooks' first public effort was on the 3d of December, 1835, in a thanks- 
giving address to his people, in which he gave a sketch of the Prussian 
system of education, and proposed the holding a series of conventions of 
the friends of common schools to agitate the subject of establishing a 
Normal School in the old colony. The first of these conventions was 
held on the 7th of December, 1836, and continued in session two days. 
This was followed by a second, at Hingham, on the 11th ; at Duxbury, 
on the 18th ; at New Bedford, on the 21st and 23d ; at Fair Haven, on 
the 23d ; and at East Bridgewater, on the 24th and 25th of the same 
month. Mr. Brooks continued his labors in the county in the autumn and 
winter following, sometimes before conventions, and sometimes by his in- 
dividual appointment. He was at Kingston on the 16th of January, 
1837; at South Hingham, February 4th; at Q.uincy, February 21st; at 
Dunbury, May 10th; at Hansen, July 9th; at Plymouth, October 24th; 
and at Weymouth, November 5th. 

The labors of this gentleman were not confined to the old colony, or 
even to the State of Massachusetts. In the course of the same year he 
lectured at Northampton, Springfield, Deerfield, Boston, Middleborough, 
and ether places in Massachusetts, in 1836 and 1837, and particularly in 
the Hall of the House of Representatives on the 18th and 19th of Janu- 
ary, 1837, during the memorable session of the Legislature, in which the 
Board of Education was instituted; and on the 28th of January, 1838. 
during the no less memorable session, by which the first appropriation in 
behalf of Normal Schools was made. His theme every where was the 



126 EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY. 

Teacher — " As is the Teacher^ so is the School,''^ — and the aim of all his 
discourses was to induce individuals and legislatures to esitablish Normal 
Schools and other agencies for improving the qualifications and the pecu- 
niary and social condition of the teacher, as the source of all other improve- 
ments in popular education. His facts and illustrations were drawn from 
the experience of Prussia and Holland. Mr. Brooks closed his active 
labors in this cause in Massachusetts after he had the satisfaction of see- 
ing the Board of Education established, and the first Normal School 
opened ; but not until he had made a powerful eflbrt to get one of these 
institutions located in Plymouth county, by means of the educational con- 
vention held at Hanover, on the 3d of September, 1838, which was graced 
by the presence and address of several of the most distinguished public 
men in the commonwealth. After noticing the proceedings of that con- 
vention, we will return to our narrative. 

At a meeting of the " Plymouth County Association for the Improve- 
ment of Common Schools," held at Hanover, September 3d, 1838, the 
question of a Normal School in Plymouth County was discussed by an 
array of distinguished men, such as the cause has seldom brought together 
in this country. The following notice of the proceedings is abridged 
from theHingham Patriot. After an address by Mr. Mann, Secretary of 
the Board of Education, on " Special Preparation, a Pre-requisite to 
Teaching,'''' Rev. Mr. Brooks, of Hingham, introduced a resolution approv- 
ing of a plan, proposed by a committee of the Association, to raise in the 
several towns in the county a sum sufficient to provide a building, fix- 
tures, and apparatus, in order to secure the location of one of the three 
Normal Schools which the Board proposed to establish in Plymouth 
county. Mr. Brooks excused himself from advocating the resolution, in- 
asmuch as he had reiterated his views on the subject in every town in 
the county, and published them in two addresses throvigh the press ; he 
therefore gave way to friends from abroad, who had come with strong 
hands and warm hearts to aid in the holy work. 

Mr. Ichabod Morton, of Plymouth, who had, two years before, out of a 
large heart, and small resources, offered to meet one tenth of the ex- 
pense of the enterprise, advocated the raising up better teachers, who, 
by a Christian education, could carry the happiness of childhood fresh and 
whole through life. 

Mr. Rantoul, of Gloucester, thought a reformation in our common 
schools was exceedingly needed, and this change for the better could only 
be effected by better teachers, well paid, and permanently employed. 

Rev. George Putnam, of Roxburg: — 

" For himself he saw no objection to the establishment of Normal Schools. 
But perhaps some might say, there was no need of special preparation for a 
teacher. To this opinion he must emphatiea!ly object. If there be any depart- 
ment for the able and proper performance of whose duties special instruction 
be absolutely necessary it is that of the educator. He said he had once kept 
school, and with tolerable acceptance, he believed, to his employers, but though 
just from college, he found himself deficient in the veryfirst steps of elementary 
knowledge. He had studied all the mathematics required at Cambridge, but 
he did not know how to come at a young mind so as successfully to teach enu- 



EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY. 227 

meration. He had studied the classics; but he could not teach a boy how to 
construct a simple English paragraph. He found himself wanting in that high- 
est of arts, the art of simplifying difficult things so that children can grasp 
them. He therefore, from his own experience, ventured to say, that no liberal 
profession so comes short of its objects as that of the schoolmaster. Few, 
very few, apprehend its difficulties. To know how to enter the child's soul, and 
when there to know what to do, is knowledge possessed but by few, and if there 
be a province in which specific preparation be necessary it is this ; and this 
very preparation is what Normal Schools promise to confer. We want no law 
schools, or any higher schools or colleges at this time, so much as we want 
seminaries, to unfold the young minds of this community. Another objection 
might be with some, that a Normal School in Plymouth County was some trick 
of the rich to get advantage of the poor. He ably refuted this objection. He 
said it happened to have a directly opposite tendency. It AVas to be a free 
school ; free in tuition and open to the poorest of the poor. It would eminently 
benefit the poor. The rich would not go to it except where a great love of 
teaching actuated a rich young person. On the other hand it would be a free 
school where a very superior education would be furnished gratis to any one 
who wished to become a teacher in the county. Another objection might be felt 
by some, viz., that it may tend to raise the wages of our teachers. To this he 
replied, that females might become teachers to a wider extent than now. It 
would, moreover, raise common schools to be the best schools in the commu- 
nity ; and when they had become the best schools, as they should be, then the 
money now spent in private schools would be turned in to the public ones, as 
in the Latin School at Boston, and higher wages could be given without any 
additional burden on our towns. He asked why should not the great mass of 
the people have the best schools 1 Why should not talent and money be ex- 
pended on town schools as well as on academies and colleges 1 Let the town 
schools be made as good as to force all parents, from mere selfishness, to send 
their children. Let all our young people come together, as republicans should, 
find common sympathies, and move by a common set of nerves. The Normal 
School, while it opens infinite advantages to the poor, will lessen their burdens 
and elevate them to knowledge and influence." 

Hon. John Q,uincy Adams : — 

" He had examined the subject of late, and he thought the movements in this 
county by the friends of education had been deliberate and wise and Christian; 
and he thought the plan, contemplated by the very important resolution before the 
meeting, could not but find favor with every one who would examine and com- 
prehend it. All accounts concur in stating a deficiency of competent teachers. 
He said, when he came to that meeting, he had objections to the plan rising 
in his mind; but those objections had been met and so clearly answered, that 
he now was convinced of the wisdom and forecast of the project, and that it 
aimed at the best interests of this community. Under this head, and alluding 
to his views, he said, the original settlers of New England were the first people 
on the face of the globe who undertook to say that all children should be edu- 
cated. On this our democracy has been founded. Our town schools, and 
town meetings, have been our stronghold in this point ; and our eflfbrts now are 
to second those of our pious ancestors. Some kingdoms of Europe have been 
justly praised for their patronage of elementary instruction, but they were only 
following our early example. Our old system has made us an enlightened people, 
and I feared that the Normal School system was to subvert the old .system, 
take the power from the towns and put it into the slate, and overturn the old demo- 
cratic principle of sustaining the schools by a tax on property ; but, I am happy 
to find that this is not its aim or wish; but on the contrary, it is accordant to 
all the old maxims, and would elevate the town schools to the new wants of a 
growing community. He said, he thought of other objections, but they were 
so faint as to have faded out of his mind. We see monarchs expending vast 
sums, establishing Normal Schools through their realms, and sparing no pains 
to convey knowledge and efficiency to all the children of their poorest subjects. 
Shall lue he outdone by Kings 1 Shall monarchies steal a march on republics in 
the patronage of that education on which a republic is based 1 On this great 
and glorious cause let us expend freely, yes, more freely than on any other. 
There was a usage, he added, in the ancient republic of Sparta, which now 



128 EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY. 

occurred to him, and which filled his mind wilh this pleasing idea, viz., that 
these endeavors of ours for the fit education of all our children would be the 
means of raising up a generation around us which would be superior to our- 
selves. The usage alluded to was this : the inhabitants of the city on a certain 
day collected together and marched in procession; dividing themselves into 
three companies ; the old, the middle-aged, and the young. When assembled 
for the sports and exercises, a dramatic scene was introduced, and the three 
parties had each a speaker ; and Plutarch gives the form of phraseology used 
in the several addresses on the occasion. The old men speak first ; and ad- 
dressing those beneath them in age, say, — 

" We have been in days of old 
Wise, generous, brave, and bold.' 

Then come the middle-aged, and casting a triumphant look at their seniors, 
say to them, — 

" That which in days of yore ye were, 
We, at the present moment, are." 

Last march forth the children, and looking bravely upon both companies who 
had spoken, they shout forth thus : — 

" Hereafter at our country's call, 
We promise to surpass you all." 

Hon. Daniel Webster : — 

" He was anxious to concur with others in aid of the project. The ultimate 
aim was to elevate and improve the primary schools ; and to secure competent 
instruction to every child which should be born. No object is greater than 
this ; and the means, the forms and agents are each and all important. He ex- 
pressed his obligation to town schools, and paid a tribute to their worth, con- 
sidering them the foundation of our social and political system. He said he 
would gladly bear his part of the expense. The town schools need improve- 
ment ; for if they are no better now than when he attended them, they are in- 
sufficient to the wants of the present day. They have, till lately, been over- 
looked by men who should have considered them. He rejoiced at the noble eiforts 
here made of late, and hoped they might be crowned with entire success. * * 
It has become the fashion to teach every thing through the press. Conversation, 
so valued in ancient Greece, is overlooked and neglected; whereas it is the 
richest source of culture. We teach too much by manuals, too little by direct 
intercourse with the pupil's mind ; we have too much of words, too little of 
things. Take any of the common departments, how little do we really know 
of the practical detail, say geology. It is taught by books. It should be taught 
by excursions in the fields. So of other things. We begin with the abstracts, 
and know little of the detail of facts ; we deal in generals, and go not to particu- 
lars ; we begin with the representative, leaving out the constituents. Teachers 
should teach things. It is a reproach that the public schools are not superior 
to the private. If I had as many sons as old Priam, I would send them all to 
the public schools. The private schools have injured, in this respect, the pub- 
lic; they have impoverished them. They who should be in them are with- 
drawn ; and like so many uniform companies taken out of the general militia, 
those left behind are none the better. This plan of a Normal School in 
Plymouth County is designed to elevate our common schools, and thus to carry 
out the noble ideas of our pilgrim fathers. There is growing need that this be 
done. But there is a larger view yet. Every man and every woman, every 
brother and every sister, is a teacher. Parents are eminently teachers. Every 
man has an interest in the community, and helps his share to shape it. Now, 
if Normal Schools are to teach teachers, they enlist this interest on the right 
side; they make parents and all who any way influence childhood competent to 
their high office. The good Avhich these Seminaries are thus to spread through 
the community is incalculable. They will turn all the noblest enthusiasm of 
the land into the holy channel of knowledge and virtue. Now, if our Plymouth 
school succeeds, they will go up in every part of the state, and who then can 
compute the exalted character which they may finally create among us 1 In 
families there will be better teaching, and the efiect will be felt throughout 
society. This effort thus far has done good. It has raised in many minds a 
clear "conviction of the importance of competent teachers ; and a clear benefit 



EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY. 129 

to follow this will be, to raise the estimation in which teachers should be held. 
He hoped that this course of policy would raise, even beyond what we expected, 
the standard of elementary instruction. He considered the cost very slight. 
It can not come into any expanded mind as an objection. If it be an experi- 
ment, it is a noble one, and should be tried." 

[Mr. Webster has always stood out a bold and eloquent advocate of 

common schools. In his centennial address at Plymouth, in 1822, he paid 

the following noble tribute to the policy of New England in this 

respect : — 

" In this particular. New England may be allowed to claim, I think, a merit 
of a peculiar character. She early adopted and has constantly maintained the 
principle, that it is the undoubted right, and the bounden duty of government, 
to provide for the instruction of all youth. That which is elsewhere left to 
chance, or to charity, we secure by law. For the purpose of public instruction, 
we hold every man subject to taxation in proportion to his property, and we 
look not to the question, whether he himself have, or have not, children to be 
benefited by the education for which he pavs. We regard it as a wise and 
liberal system of police, by which property, and life, and the peace of society 
are secured. We seek to prevent, in some measure, the extension of the penal 
code, by inspiring a salutary and conservative principle of virtue and of knowl- 
edge in an early age. We hope to excite a feeling of respectability, and a 
sense of character, by enlarging the capacity, and increasing the sphere of in- 
tellectual enjoyment. By general instruction, we seek, as far as possible, to 
purify the whole moral atmosphere ; to keep good sentiments uppermost, and 
to turn -the strong current of feeling and opinion, as well as the censures of the 
law, and the denunciations of religion, against immorality and crime. We 
hope for a security, beyond the law, and above the law, in the prevalence of 
enlightened and well-principled moral sentiment. We hope to continue and 
prolong the time, when, in the villages and farm-houses of New England, there 
may be undisturbed sleep within unbarred doors. And knowing that our 
government rests directly on the public will, that we may preserve it, we en- 
deavor to give a safe and proper direction to that public will. We do not, 
indeed, expect all men to be philosophers or statesmen ; but we confidently 
trust, and our expectation of the duration of our system of government rests on 
that trust, that by the diffusion of general knowledge and good and virtuous 
sentiments, the political fabric may be secure, as well against open violence 
and overthrow, as against the slow but sure undermining of licentiousness." 

In a speech delivered at Madison, Indiana, after congratulating the 
people of the state on the attention they had paid to common school 
education, Mr. Webster adds : — 

" Among the planets in the sky of New England — the burning lights, which 
throw intelligence and happiness on her people — the first and most brilliant is her 
system of common schools. I congi'atulate myself that my fii-st speech on entering 
public life was in their behalf. Education, to accomplish the ends of good govern- 
ment, should be universally diffused. Open the doors of the school-house to all the 
children of the land. Let no man have the excuse of poverty for not educating his 
own offspring. Place the means of education within his reach, and if they remain 
in ignorance, be it his own reproach. K one object of the expenditure of your 
revenue be protection against crime, you could not devise a better or cheaper means 
of obtaining it. Other nations spend their money in providing means for its deteo- 
tion and pimishment, but it is for the principles of our government to provide for its 
never occurring. The one acts by coercion, the other by prevention. On the diffu- 
sion of education among the people rests the preservation and perpetuation of our 
free institutions. I apprehend no danger to our coimtry from a foreign foe. The 
prospect of a war with any powerful nation is too remote to be a matter of calcula- 
tion. Besides, there is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our over- 
throw. Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From 
the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government — ^frora their care- 

I 



130 EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY. 

lessness and negligence — I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear 
that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail pro- 
perly to scrutinize their conduct, — that in this way they may be made the dupes of 
designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing. Make them 
intelligent, and they will be vigilant — give them the means of detecting the viTong, 
and they will apply the remedy."] 

Rev. Dr. Robbins remarked — 

" As the offer of the Normal Schools had been first made to the Old Colony, 
that " mother of us all," he hoped that the descendants of the pilgrims would 
sustain the exalted character of their fathers ; and, as in times past, so now, 
go forward in improvements which are to elevate and bless all coming gene- 
rations." 

The object of the Convention was attained. One of the three Normal 
Schools which the Board had decided to establish out of the donation of 
$10,000, by Mr. Dwight, and the appropriation of the same sum by the 
state, placed at their disposal, was located at Bridgewater, in Plymouth 
County. 

A previous convention in Plymouth County, at Halifax, on the 24th of 
January, 1837, had adopted a petition to the Legislature, drawn up by 
the Rev. Charles Brooks,* asking for the Establishment of a Board of 
Education, and a Teachers' Seminary ; and in the same year, the Direc- 
tors of the American Institute of Instruction presented a memorial on the 
same subject, drawn up by George B. Emerson,t of Boston. The Board 
of Education was established in that year, and the Normal School in the 
year following. 

* Although not dh-ectly connected with the history- of Normal Schools in Massachusetts, it 
may be mentioned in this place, that no individual in the whole country has done more to 
arouse the public mind of New England to the importance of Normal Schools, and to some 
extent, the leading minds of some other states, than the Rev. Charles Brooks. He lectured be- 
fore the Legislature of New Hampshire, by their request, at Concord, on the 13th, 14th, and 15th 
of June, 1837 and 183S, and again in 1845, and in the former year at Keene, Portsmouth, Concord, 
and Nashua ; before the Legislature of Vermont, in 1847, and at several other points in that 
state ; before the State Convention of the friends of education at Hartford, Connecticut, in 
November, 1838 ; before the Legislature of New Jersey, March 13, 1839 ; at Philadelphia about 
the same time; and at Providence in 183S, during the struggle which ended in the re-organiza- 
tion of the public schools of that city, and at a later period, when the establishment of the Pub- 
lic High School was in jeopardy. On one of these visits, Mr. Brooks delivered eight addresses 
in seven days. These, however, are not all the times and places in which we have met with 
notices of his labors and addresses in behalf of his favorite subject. Although his labors, every 
where, in his own counti-y and out of it, in his own state and out of it, were gratuitous, he did 
not escape the assaults of the newspapers. In one of these, he was represented as " Captain 
Brooks," with ferule in hand, at the head of a troop of schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, 
marching for a Normal School in the clouds. 

t Mr. Emerson commenced his career as a teacher, in a district school, and before opening 
his private school for young ladies, he was principal of the English High School, in Boston, 
on its first establishment, in 1821. Under his immediate direction, Colburn's "First Lessons 
in Intellectual Arithmetic," printed on separate sheets for this purpose, were first tested, and 
the deficiencies ascertained in the classes of this school. If Mr. Emerson had rendered no 
other service to the cause of educational improvement in this country, than to have success- 
fully organized the First Public English High School, and have assisted in perfecting the " First 
Lessons," he would be entitled to a large measure of the gratitude of teachers and the public 
generally. 



A LECTURE,* 

ON SPECIAL PREPARATION, A PREREQUISITE TO TEACHING, 1838. 



BT HORACE MANN, 



Gentlemen of the Convention : 

After the lapse of another year, we are again assembled to hold counsel 
together for the welfare of our cliildren. On tlus occasion we have much reason 
to meet each other with voices of congratulation and hearts of gladness. During 
the past year the cause of Popular Education in this Commonwealth has gained 
some suffrages of pubhc opinion. On presenting its wants and its claims to citi- 
zens in every part of the State, I have found that there were many individuals 
who appreciated its unportance, and who only awaited an opjjortunity to give 
utterance and action to theh feehngs ; — in almost every town, some, — in many, 
a band. 

Some of our hopes, also, have become facts. The last Legislature acted to- 
ward this cause the part of a wise and faithful guardian. Inquiries havuig been 
sent into all parts of the Commonwealth to ascertain the deficiencies in our Com- 
mon-School system, and the causes of failure in its workings ; and the results of 
those inquiries having been communicated to the Legislature, — together with 
suggestions for the ajDplication of a few obvious and energetic remedies, — that 
body forthwitii enacted such laws as the wants of the system most immediately 
and imperiously demanded. Probably at no session since the origin of our Com- 
mon-School system have laws more propitious to its welfare been made, than 
during the last. 
*** ** *** 

But among all the auspicious events of the past year, ought not the friends 
of Popular Education to be most grateful, on account of the offer made by a pri- 
vate gentlemanf to the Legislature, of the sum of ten thousand dollars, upon the 
conditions that the State should add thereto an equal smn, and that the amount 
should be expended, imder the direction of the Board of Education, in qualifying 
teachers for our Common Schools, and of the promptness and unanimity witli 
which the Legislature acceded to the proposition? I say, the unanimity, for the 
vote was entirely unanimous in the House of Representatives, and there was but 
one nay in the Senate. Vast donations have been made in this Commonwealth, 
both by the government and by individuals, for the cause of learning in some of 
its higher, and, of course, more limited departments ; but I beUeve this to be the 
first instance where any considerable sum has been given for the cause of educa- 
tion, generally, and irrespective of class, or sect, or party. Munificent donations 
liave frequently been made, among ourselves, as well as ui other States and 
countries, to perpetuate some distinctive theory or dogma of one's own, or to re- 
quite a peculiar few who may have honored or flattered the giver. But this 
was given to augment the common mass of intelUgence, and to promote univer- 
sal culture ; it was given with a liigh and enlightened disregard of all local, party, 
personal, or sectional views ; it was given for the direct benefit of all the heart 
and all the mind, extant, or to be extant, in our beloved Commonwealth ; and, in 
this respect, it certainly stands out almost, if not absolutely alone, both iir the 
amount of the donation, and in the elevation of the motive that prompted it. I 
will not tarnish the brightness of this deed by attempting to gild it vdth praise. 

* Copied, by permission, from Lectures on Education by Horace Mann, Secretary of the Mas- 
sachusetts Board of Education. Boston: William B. Fowle. 1845. Most of the Lectures em- 
braced in this volume were delivered by Mr. Mann before conventions of the friends of education, 
held in the several coimties of Massachusetts in the autumn of each year, from 1838 to 1842. The 
lecture which follows was delivered in 1838, to prepare the public mind for a fair trial of the 
experiment of providing means for the special qualification of teachers for the common schools 
(Of the State. 

t Hon. Edmund Dwight, of Boston. 



232 MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 

One of the truest and most impressive sentences ever uttered by Sir Walter 
Scott is, however, so appropriate, and forces itself so strongly upon my mind, that 
I cannot repress its utterance. When that plain and homely Scotch girl, Jeannie 
Deans, — the highest of all the characters ever conceived by that gifted author, — 
is pleading her suit before the British queen, and showmg herself therein to be 
ten tunes a queen, — she utters the sentiment I refer to : " But when," says she, 
" the hour of trouble comes to the mind or to the body, and when the hour of 
death comes, that comes to liigh and low, then it isna what we hae dune for 
oursells, but what we hae dune for others, that we think on maist pleasantly." 

There is, then, at last, on the part of the government of Massachusetts, a 
recognition of the expediency of providing means for the special qualification of 
teachers for our Common Schools ; or, at least, of submitting that question to a 
fair experiment. Let us not, however, deceive or flatter ourselves with the 
belief, that such an opinion very generally prevails, or is very deeply seated. 
A few, and those, as we believe, best qualified to judge, hold this opinion as an 
axiom. But this cannot be said of great numbers ; and it requkes no prophetic 
vision to foresee that any plan for carrying out this object, however wisely 
framed, will have to encounter not only the prejudices of the ignorant, but the 
hostility of the selfish. 

The most momentous practical questions now before our State and country 
are these : In order to preserve our repubhcan institutions, must not our Com- 
mon Schools be elevated in character and increased in efiiciency ? and, in order 
to bring our schools up to the point of excellence demanded by the nature of our 
institutions, must there not be a special course of study and training to qualify 
teacliers for then- oifice ? No other worldty interest presents any question com- 
parable to these in unportance. To the more special consideration of the latter, 
— namely, whether the teachers of our public schools require a special course of 
study and training to qualify them for theh vocation, — I solicit your attention, 
during the residue of this address. 

I shall not here insist upon any particular mode of preparation, or of prepara- 
tion in any particidar class of institutions, — whether Normal Schools, special de- 
partments in academies, colleges, or elsewhere, — to the , exclusion of all other 
histitutions. What I insist upon, is, not the form, but the substance. 

In treating tliis subject, duty will reqim-e me to speak of errors and deficien- 
cies ; and of the inadequate conceptions now entertained of the true oflice and 
mission of a teacher. This is a painful obligation, and in discharging it I am sure 
I shall not be misunderstood by any candid and intelligent mind. Toward the 
teachers of our schools, — as a class, — I certainly possess none but the most fi'a- 
ternal feelings. Their want of adequate qualifications is the want of the times, 
rather than of themselves. Teachers, heretofore, have only been partakers in a 
general error, — an error m which you and I, my hearers, have been as profoundly 
lost as they. Let this be their excuse liitherto, and let the ignorance of the past 
be winked at ; but the best service we can now render them, is to take this 
excuse away, by showing the madequacy and the unsoundness of our former 
views. Let all who shall henceforth strive to do better, stand acquitted for past 
dehnquencies ; but will not those deserve a double measure of condemnation who 
shall set themselves m array against measures, which so many wise and good 
men have approved, — at least until those measures have been fau'ly tested? 
When the tree shall have been planted long enough to mature its fruit, then, 
let it he knoion by its fruit. 

No one has ever supposed that an individual could build up a material temple, 
and give it strength, and convenience, and fair proportions, Avithout first master- 
ing the architectural art ; but we have employed thousands of teachers for our 
children, to build up the immortal Temple of the Spirit, who have never given 
to this divme, educational art, a day nor an hour of preliminary study or atten- 
tion. How often have we sneered at Dogberry in the play, because he holds 
that " to read and write comes by natm-e ;" when we om-selves have undertaken 
to teach, or have employed teachers, whose only fitness for givmg instruction, 
not only in reading and writing, hut iii all other things, has come by nature, if it 
has come at all ; that is, m exact accordance with Dogberry's philosophy. 

In maintaining the affirmative of this question, — namely, that all teachers do 
require a special course of study and trauaing, to quahfy them for their profes- 



MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 233 

sion, — I will not higgle with my adversary in adjusting preliminaries. ' He may 
be the disciple of any school in metaphysics, and he may hold what faitli he 
pleases, respecthig the mind's nature and essence. Be he spiritualist or mate- 
rialist, it here matters not, — nay, though he should deny that there is any such 
substance as mind or sphit at all, I wiU not stop to dispute that point with him, 
— preferring rather to imitate the example of those old knights of the tourna- 
ment, who felt such confidence in the justness of their cause, that they gave 
then- adversai'ies the advantage of sun and wind. For, whatever the mind may 
be, in its inscrutable natui;e or essence, or whether there be any such tiling as 
mind or spu'it at all, pro23erly so called, this we have seen and do know, that 
there come beings into this world, with every incoming generation of children, 
who, although at fii'st so ignorant, helpless, speecliless, — so incapable of all mo- 
tion, upright or rotaiy, — that we can hardly persuade ourselves they have not 
lost theu- way, and come, by mistake, into the wrong world ; yet, after a few 
swift years have passed away, we see thousands of these same ignorant and 
helpless beings, expiating horrible offenses in prison-cells, or dashing themselves 
to death against the bars of a maniac's cage ; — others of them, we see, holding 
" colloquy sublime," in halls where a nation's fate is arbitrated, or solving some 
of the mightiest problems that belong to tliis wonderful universe ; — and others 
stiU, there ai-e, who, by daily and nightly contemplation of the laws of God, have 
kindled that fire of divine truth within their bosoms, by which they become those 
moral luminaries whose hght shineth from one part of the heavens unto the 
other. And this amazing change in these feeble and helpless creatures, — this 
transfiguration of them for good or for evil, — is wi-ought by laws of organization 
and of increase, as certain in theii* operation, and as infalhble in their results, as 
those by which the skillful gardener substitutes flowers, and delicious fruits, and 
healing herbs, for briers, and thorns, and poisonous plants. And as we hold the 
gardener responsible for the productions of his garden, so is the community re- 
sponsible for the general character and conduct of its children. 

Some, indeed, maintain, — erroneously as we believe, — that a difference in edu- 
cation is the sole cause of aU the differences existing among men. They hold 
that aU persons come into the world just alike in disposition and capacity, though 
they go througli it and out of it so amazingly diverse. They hold, in short, that 
if any two men had changed cradles, they would have changed characters and 
epitaphs ; — that, not only does the same quantity of substance or essence go to 
the constitution of every human mind, but that aU minds are of the same quality 
also, — all having the same powers, and bearing, originally, the same image and 
superscription, like so many half-dollars struck at the government mint. 

But deeply as education goes into the core of the heart and the marrow of the 
bones, we do not claim for it any such prerogative. There are certain substruc- 
tures of temperament and disposition, which education finds, at the beginning of 
its work, and whicli it can never wholly aimul. JSTor does it comport with the 
endless variety and beauty manifested in aU other parts of the Creator's works, 
to suppose that he made aU ears and eyes to be defighted with the same tunes 
and colors ; or provided so good an excuse for plagiarism, as that all minds were 
made to think the same thoughts. This inherent and original diversity, however, 
only increases the difiiculty of education, and gives additional force to the 
argument for previous preparation ; for, were it true that all children are born 
just alike, in disposition and capacity, the only labor would be to discover the 
right method for educating a single cliild, and to stereotype it for all the rest. 

This, however, we must concede to those who afiirm the original equaUty and 
exact sunUitude of all minds ; — ^namely, that all muids have the same element- 
ary or constituent faculties. This is all that we mean when we say that human 
nature is every wliere the same. This is, in pai't, what the Scriptures mean 
when they say, " God hath made of one blood aU nations of men." The contrasts 
among men result, not ii'om the possession of a different number of original fac- 
ulties, but from possessiug the same faculties, in different proportions, and in 
different degrees of activity. The civihzed men of the present day, have neither 
more nor less faculties, hi number, than their barbarian ancestors had. If so, it 
would be iuterestuig to ascertain about what year, or centm-y, a new good faculty 
was given to the race, or an old bad one was taken away. An assembly of 
civilized men, on this side of the globe, convening to devise measmres for dimia- 



134 MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 

ishing the number of capital crimes, and thus to reduce the number of capital 
punishments, were born with the same number and kind of faculties, — though 
doubtless differing greatly in proportion and in activity, — with a company of 
Battas islanders, on the opposite side of the globe, who, perhaps at the same 
time, may be going to attend the holiday rites of a public execution, and, as is 
their wont, to dijie on the criminal. As each human face has the same number 
of features, each hmnan body the same number of limbs, muscles, organs, &c., so 
each human soul has the same capacities of Reason, Conscience, Hope, Fear, Love, 
Self-love, &c. The differences lie in the relative strength and supremacy of 
these powers. The human eye is composed of about twenty distinct parts or 
pieces ; yet these constituent parts are so differently arranged that one man is 
far-sighted, another near-sighted. When an oculist has mastered a knowledge 
of one eye, he knows the general plan upon which all eyes have been formed ; 
but he must still learn the peculiarities of each, or, in his practice, he will ruin 
all he touches.* When a surgeon, or an assassin, knows where one man's heart 
is, he knows, substantially, where the hearts of all other men may be found. 
And so of the mind and its faculties. It is because of this community of original 
endowments, that all the great works of nature; and art, and science, address a 
common susceptibility or capacity, existing in all minds. It is because of this 
kindred nature that the same earth is given to us all, as a common residence. 
The possession by each of his complement of powers and susceptibilities, confers 
the common nature, while the different portions or degrees in wliich they exist, 
and the predominance of one or a few over the others, break us up into moral 
and intellectual classes. It is impossible to vindicate the propriety of making or 
of carrying a Revelation to the whole human race, unless that race has common 
capacities and wants to which the revelation is adapted. And hence we learn 
the appalling truth, — a truth wliich should strike " loud on the heart as thunder 
on the ear," — that every child born into this world has tendencies and suscepti- 
bilities pointing to the furthest extremes of good and evil. Each one has the 
capacity of immeasurable virtue or vice. As each body has an immensity of 
natural space open all around it, so each spkit, when waked into Ufe, has an im- 
mensity of moral space open all around it. Each soul has a pinion by which it 
may soar to the liighest empyrean, or swoop downward to the Tartarean abyss. 
In the feeblest voice of infancy, there is a tone which can be made to pour a 
sweeter melody into the symphonies of angels, or thunder a harsher discord 
through the blasphemies of demons. To plume these wings for an upper or a 
nether flight ; to lead these voices forth into harmony or dissonance ; to woo 
these beings to go where they should go, and to be what they should be, — does 
it, or does it not, my friends, requu-e some knowledge, some anxious forethought, 
some enlightening preparation ? 

You must pardon me, if. on this subject I speak to you with great plaiimess; 
and you must allow me to appeal directly to your own com-se of conduct in 
other things. You have property to be preserved for the support of your chil- 
dren while you hve, or, when you die, for then patrimony ; you have health and 
life to be guarded and continued, that they may not be bereaved of their natural 
protectors ; — and you have the cliildren themselves, with their unbounded, un- 
fathomable capacities of hapjainess and misery. Now, in respect to yom* prop- 
erty, what is it your wont to do, when a young lawyer comes into the village, 
erects his sign, and (the most unexclusive of men) gives to the public a general 
invitation ? Though he has a diploma from a college, and the solemn approval 
of bench and bar, yet how warily do the public approach him. How much he is 
reconnoitered before he is retained. How many premeditated plans are laid to 
appear to meet him accidentally, to talk over indifferent subjects with him, — 
the weather, the crops, or Congressional matters, — ia order to measure liioi, and 
probe him, and see if there be any hopefulness in him. And should aU things 

• I have heai-d that distinguished sm-geon, Doct. John C. Warren, of Boston, relate the follow- 
ing anecdote, which happened to him in London:— Being invited to witness a very difl3cult oper- 
ation upon the human eye, by a celebrated English oculist, he was so much struck by the skill 
and science which were exhibited by the operator, that he sought a private interview with him, 
to inquire by what means he had become so accomplished a master of his art. "Sir," said the 
oculist, " I spoiled a hat-full of eyes to learn it." Thus it is with incompetent teachers ; they may 
spoil schoolrooms-full of children to leai-n how to teach,— and perhaps may not always learn 
even then. 



MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838, 23g 

promise favorably, the young attorney is intrusted, in the first instance, only ■with 
some outlawed note, or some doubtful account, before a justice of the peace. No 
man ever thinks of trusting a case which involves the old homestead, to his in- 
experienced hands. He would as soon set fire to it. 

So, too, of a young physician. Wo matter from what medical college, home or 
foreign, he may bring his credentials. From day to day the neighbors watch 
him without seeming to look at him. In good-wives' parties, the question is 
confidentially discussed, whether, in a case of exigency, it would be safe to send 
for him. And when, at last, he is gladdened with a caU, it is only to look at 
some surface ailment, or to pother a little about the extremities. Nobody allows 
him to lay his uupracticed hand upon the vitals. Now this common sentiment, — 
this common practice of mankind, — is only the instinctive dictate of prudence. 
It is only a tacit recognition of a truth felt by all sensible men, that there are a 
thousand ways to do a thing wi'ong, but only one to do it right. And if it be 
but reasonable to exercise such vigUance and caution, in selecting a healer for 
our bodies which perish, or a counselor for our worldly estates, who shall assign 
limits to the ckcumspection and fidehty with which the teachers of our children 
should be chosen, who, in the space of a few short years, or even months, will 
determine, as by a sort of predestination, upon so much of their future fortvmes 
and destiny ? 

Again : it is the universal sense of mankind, that skill and facility, in all other 
things, depend upon study and practice. We always demand more, where op- 
portunities have been greater. We stamp a man with inferiority, though he 
does ten times better than another, if he has had twenty times the advantages. 
"We know that a skillful navigator will carry a vessel through perilous straits, in 
a gale of wind, and save cai'go and lives, while an ignorant one wOl wreck both, 
in a broad channel. "With what a song of delight we have all witnessed, how 
easily and surely that wise and good man, at the head of a great institution in 
our own State, will tame the ferocity of the insane ; and how, when each faculty 
of a fiery spirit bursts away Uke an affrighted steed fi'om its path, this naighty 
tamer of madmen wUl temper and quell their wUd impetuosity and restore them 
to the guidance of reason. Nay, the great moral healer can do this, not to one 
only, but to hundi'eds, at a time ; while, even in a far shorter period than he 
asks to accomplish such a wonderful work, an ignorant and passionate teacher 
wUl turn a hundred gentle, confiding spii'its into rebels and anarchists. And, 
my hearers, we recognize the existence of these facts, we apply these obvious 
principles, to every thing but to the education of our children. 

Why cannot we derive instruction even from the foUy of those wandering 
showmen who spend a Ufe in teaching brute animals to perform wonderful feats ? 
We have all seen, or at least we have aU heard of, some learned horse, or learned 
pig, or learned dog. Though the superiority over their fellows, possessed by 
these brute prodigies, may have been owing, in some degree, to the possession 
of greater natvual parts, yet it must be mainly attributed to the higher compe- 
tency of their instructor. Their teacher had acquired a deeper insight into their 
natm-es ; his sagacious practice had discovered the means by wliich their talents 
could be unfolded and brought out. However unworthy and even contemptible, 
therefore, the mere trainer of a dog may be, yet he illustrates a great principle. 
By showing us the superiority of a well-trained dog, he shows what might be the 
superiority of a well-trained child. He shows us that higher acquisitions, — what 
may be called academical attainments, — in a few favored individuals of the ca- 
nine race, are not so much the results of a more brilliant genius on the part of 
the dog-pupU, as they are the natural reward and consequence of his enjoying 
the instructions of a professor who has concentrated all his energies upon dog- 
teaching. 

Sm'ely it will not be denied that a workman should understand two things in 
regard to the subject-matter of his work •.—first, its natural properties, qualities, 
and powers ; and secondly, the means of modifying and regulating them, with a 
view to improvement. In relation to the mechanic arts, this is admitted by aU. 
Every body knows that the strength of the blow must be adjusted to the mal- 
leability of the metal. It will not do to strike glass and flint either with the 
same force or with the same implements ; and the proper instrument will never 
be selected by a person ignorant of the purpose to be effected by its use. If a 



136 



■ME. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 



man working on wood mistakes it for iron, and attempts to soften it in the fire, 
his jDroduct is — ashes. And so if a teacher supposes a child to have but one tend- 
ency and one adaptation when he has many; — if a teacher treats a child as 
though his nature were wholly animal, or wholly intellectual, or wholly moral 
and rehgious, he disfigures and mutilates the nature of that child, and wrenches 
his whole structure into deformity. 

The being, 3Ian, is more complex and diversified 'm. constitution, and more 
variously endowed in faculties, than any other earthly work of the Creator. It 
is in this assemblage of powers and prerogatives that his strength and majesty 
reside. They constitute his sovereignty and lordship over the creation aroimd 
him. By our bodily organization we are adapted to the material world in which 
we are placed ; — our eye to the Ught, which makes known to us every change 
in the form, motion, color, position, of all objects within visual range ; — our ear 
and tongue to the air, which flows around us in silence, yet is forever ready to 
be waked into voice and music ; — our hand to all the cunnmg works of art which 
subserve utdity or embellishment. Still more wonderfully does the spiritual 
nature of man befit his spiritual relations. Whatever there is of law, of order, 
of duty, in the works of God, or in the progressive conditions of the race, aU have 
their spiritual counterparts within him. By his perceptive and intellectual 
faculties he learns the properties of created things, and discovers the laws by 
which they are governed. By tracing the relation between causes and effects, 
he acquires a kind of prophetic vision and power ; for, by conforming to the un- 
changing laws of Nature, he enUsts her in his service, and she works with him in 
fulfilling his predictions. Regarded as an individual, and as a member of a race 
wliich reproduces itself and passes away, his lower propensities, — those which he 
holds in common with the brutes, — are the instincts and means to preserve him- 
self and to perjaetuate his kind ; while by his tastes, and by the social, moral, and 
religious sentiments of which he is capable, he is attuned to all the beauties and 
sublimities of creation, liis heart is made responsive to ail the delights of friend- 
ship and domestic affection, and he is invited to hold that spiritual intercoiu'se 
with his Maker, which at once strengthens and enraptures. 

N"ow-the voice of God and of ISTature declares audibly which of these various 
powers within us are to command, and which are to obey ; and with which, in 
every questionable case, resides the ultimate arbitrament. Even the lowest 
propensities are not to be wholly extirpated. Within the bounds prescribed by 
the social and the divine law, they have their rightful claims. But the moral 
and the religious sentiments, — Benevolence, Conscience, Reverence for the All- 
creating and All-bestowing Power, — these have the prerogative of supremacy 
and absolute dominion. These are to walk the halls of the soul, like a ,god, nor 
suffer rebellion to live under then- eye. Yet how easy for this many-gifted be- 
ing to fall, — more easy, indeed, because of his many gifts. Some subject-faculty, 
some subordinate power, in the spiritual realm, unfortunately inflamed, or, — 
what is far more common, — unwisely stimulated by an erroneous education, 
grows importunate, exorbitant, aggrandizes itself, encroaches upon its fellow- 
faculties, until, at last, obtaining the mastery, it subverts the moral order of the 
soul, and wages its parricidal war against the sovereignty of conscience within, 
and the laws of society and of Heaven without. And how unspeakably dreadful 
are the retributions which come in the train of these remorseless usurpers, when 
they obtain dominion over the soul ! Take, for instance, the earliest-developed, 
the most purely selfish and animal appetite that belongs to us, — that for nour- 
ishing beverage. It is the first wliich demands gratification after birth. Sub- 
jected to the laws of temperance, it will retam its zest, fresh and genial, for 
threescore years and ten, and it affords the last corporal solace upon earth to the 
parched lips of the dying man. Yet, if the possessor of this same pleasme-giving 
appetite shall be incited, either by examples of inordinate indulgence, or by 
festive songs in praise of the vine and the wine-cup, to inflame it, and to feed its 
deceitfid fires, though but for the space of a few short years, then the speU of 
the sorcerer will be upon him ; and, day by day, he will go and cast himself into 
the fiery furnace which he has kindled ; — nor himself, the pitiable victim, alone, 
but he will seize upon parents and wife and his group of iimocent children, and 
plunge with them all into the seething hell of intemperance. 

So there is, in human nature, an innate desire of acquiring property, — of own- 



MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1833. \gfj 

ing something, — of using the possessives my and mine. Within proper limits, 
this instinct is laudably indulged. Its success affords a pleasure in ■which reason 
can take a part. It stimulates and strengthens many other faculties. It makes 
us thoughtful and fore-thoughtful. It is the parent of industry and frugality, — 
and industiy and frugality, as we all know, are blood-relations to the whole 
family of the virtues. But to the eye and heart of one in whom this love of ac- 
quisition has become absorbing and insane, all the diversified substances in crea- 
tion are reduced to two classes, — that wliich is gold, and that which is not ; — and 
all the works of Nature are valued or despised, and the laws and institutions of 
society upheld or assaded, as they are supposed to be favorable or unfavorable 
to the acquisition of wealth. Whether at home or abroad, in the festive cu-cle 
or in the funeral train ; whether in hearing the fervid and thrilling appeals of the 
sanctuary, or the pathos of civic eloquence, one idea alone, — that of money, money, 
money, — holds possession of the miser's soul ; its voice ruigs forever in his ear ; 
and were he in the garden of Eden, — its beauty, and music, and perfume suffu- 
sing all his senses, — his only thought would be, how much money it would bring ! 
Such mischief comes from giving supremacy to a subordiaate, though an essen- 
tial and highly useful faculty. This mischief, to a greater or less extent, parents 
and teachers produce, when, through an ignorance of the natural and appropriate 
methods of inducing children to study, they hire them to learn by the offer of 
pecuniary rewards. 

So, too, we all have an innate love for whatever is beautiful ; — a sentiment 
that yearns for higher and higher degrees of perfection in the arts, and in the 
embellishments of life, — a feeling which would prompt us to " gild refined gold, 
to paint the hly, to throw a perfume on the violet, and add another hue unto the 
rainbow." Portions of the external world have been exquisitely adapted to this 
inborn love of the beautiful, by Him who has so clothed the Idies of the field that 
they outshine Solomon in all his glory. This sentiment may be too much or too 
little cultivated ; — so Kttle as to make us disdain gratifications that are at once 
innocent and pm*e ; or so much as to over-refine us into a hateful fastidiousness. 
In the works of nature, beauty is generally, if not always, subordinated to utUity. 
Jn cases of incompatibility, gracefuhiess yields to strength, not strength to grace- 
fulness. How would the rising sun mock us with his splendor, if he brought no 
life or warmth in his beams ! The expectation of autmnnal harvests enhances 
the beauty of vernal bloom. These manifestations of nature admonish us re- 
specting the rank which ornament or accomplislunent should hold in the char- 
acter and in the works of men ; and, of course, in the education of children. 
Christ referred occasionally to the beauties and charms of nature, but dwelt 
perpetually upon the obligations of duty and charity. But what opposite and 
grievous offenses are committed on this subject by different portions of society ! 
The laboring classes, by reason of early parental neglect in cultivating a love for 
the beautiful, often forego pleasures which a bountiful Providence scatters pro- 
fusely and gratuitously around them, and strews beneath their feet ; while there 
is a class of persons at the other extremity of the social scale, who, from never 
cotnprehending the inuneasurable value of the objects for which they were 
created, and the vast beneficence of which, from their wealth and station, they 
are capable, actually try every thing, however intrinsically noble or sacred, by 
some conventional law of fasliion, by some arbitrary and capricious standard of 
elegance. In European society, this class of " fasluonables" is numerous. They 
have their imitators here,— beings, who are not men and women, but similitudes 
only, — who occupy the vanishing point in the perspective of society, where all 
that is true, or noble, or estimable in human nature, fades away into nothing. 
With tills class it is no matter what a man does with the " Ten Commandments," 
provided he keeps those of Lord Chesterfield ; and, in their society, Beau Brum- 
mel would take precedence of Dr. Franklin. 

In a Report lately made by the Agricultural Commissioner for the survey of 
this Commonwealth, I noticed a statement respecting some farmers in the north- 
ern part of the county of Essex, who attempted to raise sun-flowers for the pur- 
pose of extracting oil from the seeds. Twenty bushels to the acre was the 
largest crop raised by any one. Sis bushels of the seed yielded but one gallon 
of oil, worth, in the market, one dollar and seventeen cents only. It surely re- 
quked no great boldness to assert that the experiment did not succeed : — culti- 



138 MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. ' 

vation, one acre : product, three gallons of oil ; value, three dollars and fifty 
cents ! — wliich would, perhaps, about half repay the cost of labor. Woe to the 
farmer who seeks for mdejjendence by raising sun-flowers ! Ten times woe to the 
parents who rear up sun-flower sons or sun-flower daughters, — instead of sons 
whose hearts glow and burn with an immortal zeal to run the noble career of 
usefulness and virtue which a happy fortune has laid open before them ; — mstead 
of daughters who cherish such high resolves of duty as lift them even above an 
enthusiasm for greatness, into those loftier and serene regions where greatness 
comes not from excitement, but is native, and ever-springing and ever-abiding. 
Every son, whatever may be his expectations as to fortune, ought to be so edu- 
cated that he can superintend some part of the complicated machinery of social 
life ; and every daughter ought to be so educated that she can answer the claims 
of humanity, whether those claims requh-e the labor of the head or the labor of 
the hand. Every daughter ought to be so trained that she can bear, with dignity 
and self-sustaining ability, those revolutions in Fortime's wheel, which sometimes 
bring the kitchen up and turn the parlor down. 

Again ; we have a natm-al, spontaneous feeling of self-respect, an innate sense 
that, simply in our capacity as human beings, we are worth something, and en- 
titled to some consideration. This principle constitutes the interior frame- work 
of some of the virtues, veiled, indeed, by their own beautiful covering, but still 
necessary in order to keep them m an erect posture, amidst all the overbearing 
currents and forces of the world. Where this feeling of self-respect exists too 
weakly, the whole character becomes limber, flaccid, impotent, sinks under the 
menace of opposition, and can be frightened out of any thing or into any thing. 
On the other hand, when this propensity aggrandizes itself, and becomes swollen 
and deformed with pride, and conceit, and intolerance, it is a far more offensive 
nuisance than many of those which the law authorizes us to abate, summarily, 
by force and arms. Our political mstitutions are a rich alluvium for the growth 
of self-esteem ; for, while every body knows that there are the greatest differ- 
ences between men in point of honesty, of ability, of will to do good and to pro- 
mote right, yet our fundamental laws, — and rightly too, — ordain a political 
equality. But what is not right is, that the pohtical equahty is the fact mainly 
regarded, while there is a tendency to disregard the intellectual and moral in- 
equalities. And thus a faculty, designed to subserve, and capable of subserving 
the greatest good, engenders a low ambition, and fills the land with the war- 
whoop of party strife. 

These are specimens only of a long list of original tendencies or attributes of 
the human mmd, from a more full enumeration and exposition of which, I must, 
on this occasion, refi-ain. But have not enough been referred to, to authorize us 
to assert the general doctrine, that every teacher ought to have some notions, 
clear, definite, and comjDrehensive, of the manifold powers, — the various natm'e, — 
of the beings confided to his hands, so that he may repress the redmidancy of a 
too luxuriant growth, and nom'ish the feeble with his fostering care ? No idea 
can be more erroneous than that children go to school to learn the rudiments of 
knowledge only, and not to form character. The character of children is always 
forming. No place, no companion is without an influence upon it ; and at school 
it is formed more rapidly than any where else. The mere fact of the presence 
of so many children together, puts the social or dissocial natm-e of each into 
fervid action. To be sent to school, especially in the nuntry, is often as great 
an event in a child's fife, as it is, in his father's, to be sent to the General Court : 
and we all know with what unwonted force all things affect the mind, in new places 
and under new circumstances. Every child, too, when he first goes to school, 
understands that he is put upon liis good behavior ; and, with man or child, it is 
a very decisive thmg, and reaches deep into character and far into futurity, when 
put upon his good behavior, to prove recreant. Ifow, teachers take children 
under their care, as it were, during the first warm days of the spring of life, when 
more can be done toward directing their growth and modifying their disposi- 
tions, than can be done in years, at a later season of their existence. 

Equally indispensable is it, that every teacher should know, by what means, — 
by virtue of what natural laws, — the human powers and faculties are strength- 
ened or enfeebled. There is a principle running tlurough every mental opera- 
tion, — without a knowledge of which, without a knowledge how to apply which, 



MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838, 



130" 



the life of the most faithful teacher -will be only a succession of well-intentioned 
errors. The growth or decline of all our powers depends upon a steadfast law. 
There is no more chance in the processes of their growth or decay than there is 
in the Multiphcation Table. They grow by exercise, and they lose tone and 
vigor by inaction. All the faculties have their related objects, and they grow 
by being excited to action thi'ough the stimulus or instrumentality of those ob- 
jects. Each faculty, too, has its own set or class of related objects ; and the 
classes of related objects differ as much from each other as do the corresponding 
faculties which they naturally excite. If any one power or faculty, therefore, is 
to be strengthened, so as to perform its office with facility, precision, and dis- 
patch, that identical faculty, — not any other one, — must be exercised. It does 
not strengthen my left arm to exercise my right ; and this is just as true of the 
powers of the mind as of the organs of the body. The whole pith of that saying 
of Solomon, " Train up a child in the way he should go," consists in this principle, 
because " to train" means to diill, to repeat, to do the same thing over and over 
again, — that is, to exercise. Solomon does not say, " I'ell a child the way he 
should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Had he said this, 
we could refute him daily by ten thousand facts. Unfortunately, education 
among us, at present, consists too much in telling, not in training, on the part of 
parents and teachers ; and, of course, in hearing, not in doing, on the part of chil- 
chen and pupils. The • blacksmith's right arm, the philosopher's intellect, the 
joliilanthropist's benevolence, all grow and strengthen according to this law of 
exercise. The farmer works sohd flesh upon liis cattle ; the pugUist strikes vigor 
into his arms and breast ; the foot-soldier inarches strength mto his limbs ; the 
practical man thinks quickness and judgment into his mind; and the true Chris- 
tian lives his prayers of love and his thoughts of mercy, until every man becomes 
his brother. Our own experience and observation furnish us with a life-full of 
evidence attesting this principle. How did our feet learn to walk, our fingers to 
write, our organs of speech to utter an innumerable variety of sounds ? By what 
means does the musician pass from coarse discords to perfect music, — from hob- 
bhng and shambling in his measure, to keeping time like a chi'onometer, — from 
a slow and timid touch of keys or chords, to such celerity of movement, that, 
though his will sends out a thousand commands in a minute, liis nimble fingers 
obey them aU ? It is this exercise, this repetition, which gives to jugglers their 
marvelous dexterity. By dint of practice, their motions become quicker than 
om- eyesight, and thus elude inspection. A knowledge of tliis prmciple solves 
many of the riddles of hfe, by showing us whence comes the domineering strength 
of human appetites and passions. It comes from exercise, — from a long indul- 
gence of them in thought and act, — until the offspring of sinful desire turn back, 
and feast upon the vitals of the wretch who nurtm-ed them. It is this which 
makes the miser pant and raven for gain, more and more, just in proportion to 
the shortness of the hfe during which he can enjoy it. It is this which sends the 
drunkard to pay daily tribute to his own executioner. It is this which scourges 
back the gambler to the hell he dreads. 

It is by this law of exercise that the perceptive and reflective intellect, — I 
mean the powers of observing and judging, — are strengthened. If, therefore, in 
the education of the child, the action of these powers is early arrested ; if his 
whole time is engrossed and his whole energy drawn away, by other things ; or, 
if he is not supplied with the proper objects or apparatus on which these facul- 
ties can exert themselves, — then the after-life of such a chUd will be crowded 
with practical errors and misjudgments. As a man, his impressions of thmgs 
will be faint and fleeting ; he wiU never be able to describe an object as he saw 
it, nor to tell a story as he heard it. No handcraftsman or mechanic ever be- 
comes what we call a first-rate workman, until after innumerable experiments 
and judgments, — that is, repetitions, or exercises. And the rule is the same 
even with genius ; — artisan or artist, he must practice long and sedulously upon 
hues, proportions, rehefs, before he can become the first sculptor of the age, or 
the fii'st bootmaker in the city. The teacher, then, must continue to exercise 
the powers of his pupils, until he secures accm'acy even in the minutest things 
he teaches. Every child can and should learn to judge, almost with mathemati- 
cal exactness, how long an inch is ; — no matter if he does not guess within a foot 
of it the fu-st time. "^Hiether the story of Casper Hauser be true or not, it has 



140 



Mr. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 



verisimiKtude, and is thei-efore instructive. It warns us Tvhat the general result 
must be, if, by a non-presentation of their related objects, the faculties of a child 
are not brought into exercise. We meet with persons every day -who, in regard 
to some one or more of the faculties, are Casper Hausers. This happens, almost 
universally, not through any natm-a,l defect, but because parents and teachers 
have been ignorant, either of the powers to be exercised, or of the related objects 
tlu-ough whose instrumentality they can be excited to action. 

But here arises a demand for great skill, aptitude, and resources, on the part 
of the teacher ; for, by continuing to exercise the same faculty, 1 do not mean a 
monotonous repetition of the same action, nor a perpetual presentation of the 
same object or idea. Such a course would soon cloy and disgust, and thus ter- 
minate all effort in that direction. Would a child ever learn to. dance, if there 
were but one figure ; or to sing, if there were but one tune ? Nature, science, 
art, oifer a boundless variety of objects and processes, adapted to quicken and 
employ each of the faculties. These resources the teacher should have at his 
command, and should make use of them, in the order, and for the period, that 
each particular case may require. Look into the shops of our ingenious artisans 
and mechanics, and see theu- shining rows of tools, — hundreds in number, — but 
each adapted to some particular process in their curious art. Look into the shop 
or hut of a savage, an Indian mechanic, and you will find his chest of tools com- 
posed of a single jack-knife ! So with our teachers. Sohie of them have appa- 
ratus, diagram, chart, model ; they have anecdote, epigram, narrative history, by 
which to illustrate eveiy branch of study, and to fit every variety of disposi- 
tion ; while the main resom-ce of others, for all studies, for all ages, and for all 
dispositions, is — the rod ! 

Again : a child must not only be exercised into correctness of observation, 
comparison, and judgment, but into accuracy in the narration or description of 
what he has seen, heard, thought, or felt, so that, whatever thoughts, emotions, 
memories, are witliin him, he can present them all to others in exact and lumi- 
nous words. Dr. Johnson said, " Accustom your children constantly to this : if a 
thing happened at one window, and they, when relating it, say tliat it happened 
at another, do not let it pass, but instantly check them. You do not know where 
deviation fi-om the truth will end." Every man who sees effects in causes, will 
fully concur with the Doctor in regard to the value of such a habit of accuracy 
as is here imphed. If, in the narration of an event, or in the recitation of a les- 
son, a child is permitted to begin at tlie last end of it, and to scatter the middle 
about promiscuously, depend upon it, if that child, after growing up, is called 
into court as a witness, somebody Avill suffer in fortune, in reputation, or perhaps 
m life. When practicing at the bar, I was once engaged in an important case of 
slander, where the whole question of the innocence or guilt of the defendant 
turned upon the point whether, at a certain time, he Avas seen out of one win- 
dow or out of another ; and the stupid witness first swore that it was one 
window, then another window, and at last, thought it might be a door ; and 
doubtless, he could have been made to swear that he saw him tln-ough the sky- 
light. Would you appreciate the importance of accuracy, in observation and 
statement, take one of those cases which so frequently occur in our courts of 
law, where a dozen witnesses, — all honest, — swear one way, and another dozen, — 
equally honest, — counter-swear; and contrast it with a case, which so rarely 
occurs, where a witness, whose mind, like a copying macliine, having taken an 
exact impression of whatever it has seen or heard, attests to complicated facts, 
in a manner so orderly, luminous, natm-al, — giving to each, time, locality, propor- 
tion, that when he has finished, every auditor, — bench, bar, spectators, — all feel 
as though they had been personally present and witnessed the whole transac- 
tion. Now, although something of this depends, unquestionably, upon soundness 
in physical and mental organization, yet a vast portion of it is referable to the 
early observation or neglect, on the part of teacher or parent, of the law we are 
considering. 

There is another point, too, which the teacher should regard, especially where 
only a small portion of non-age is appropriated to school attendance. In exer- 
cising the faculties for the purpose of strengthening them, the greatest amount 
of useful knowledge should be communicated. The faculties may be exercised 
aud strengthened in acquiring useful or useless knowledge. A farmer or a stone- 



MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 



141- 



mason may exercise and strengthen the muscles of his body, by pitching or roll- 
ing timbers or stones backward and forward ; but, by converting the same ma- 
terials into a house or a fence, he may at once gain strengtli and do good. Erery 
teacher, at the same time that he exercises the faculties of his pupils, ought to 
impart the greatest amount of valuable knowledge ; and he should always be 
above the temptation of keeping a pupil in a lower department of study, be- 
cause he himself does not understand the higher ; or, on the other hand, of pre- 
maturely carrying his pupil into a higher department, because of liis own igno- 
rance of the lower. Suppose a bright boy, for instance, to be studying arithmetic 
and geography, at school. Now, arithmetic cannot be taught unless it is under- 
•stood ; but, with the help of an atlas, and a text-book whose margin is all covered 
with questions, the business of teacliing geography may be set up on a very 
slender capital of knowledge. And here a teacher who is obhged to be very 
economical of his ai-ithmetic, would be tempted to keep his pupil upon all the 
small towns, and tiny rivers, and dots of islands in the geography, in order to 
delay him, and gain time, — like the ofBcers of those banks whose specie runs 
low, who seek to pay off thek creditors in cents, because it takes so long to count 
the copper. Every teacher ought to know vastly more than he is required to 
teach, so that he may be furnished, on every subject, with copious illustration 
and instructive anecdote ; and so that the pupils may be disabused of the notion, 
they are so apt to acquhe, that they carry all knowledge m their satchels. 
Every teacher should be possessed of a faculty at explanation, — a tact in dis- 
cerning and solving difficulties, — not to be used too often, for then it would 
supersede the effort it should encourage, — but when it is used, to be quick and 
sure as a telescope, brmging distant objects near, and making obscure ones dis- 
tinct. In the important, but grossly neglected and abused exercise of readmg, 
for instance, every new fact, every new idea, is news to the child ; and, did he 
fuUy understand it, he would be as eager to learn it, as we are to learn what is 
netcs to us. But how, tliink you, should we be vexed, if our news-bringer spoke 
every third word in a foreign language ; or gave us only a Pennsylvania news- 
paper printed in German, when we wanted to know how their votes stood in an 
election for President ? Whatever words a child does not understand, m his 
reading lesson, are, to liim, words in a foreign language ; and they must be trans- 
lated into his own language before he can take any interest in them. But if, 
instead of being translated into his language, they are left unnoticed, or are 
translated into another foreign language still, — that is, into other words or phrases 
of which he is ignorant, — then, the child, instead of dehghtful and instructive 
ideas, gets empty words, mere sounds, atmospheric vibrations only. In Dr. 
Johnson's Dictionary, the word " Net-worh" is defined to be " any thing reticu- 
lated or decussated, with interstices between the intersections." Now who, 
ignorant of the meaning of the word " net-work" before, would understand it 
any better by being told, that it is " any thing reticulated or decussated, with 
interstices between the intersections ?" Nor would he be much enhghtened if, on 
looking further, he found that the same author had given the following defini- 
tions of the defining words : — " reticulated," "■formed with interstitial vacuities ;" 
— " decussated," " intersected at acute angles ;" — " interstice," " space bettoeen one 
thine/ and another ;" — " intersection," "point where lines cross each other." If this 
is not, as Milton says, " dark with excess of bright," it is, at least, " darkness visi- 
ble." A few years since, a geography was published in this State, — the preface 
of which boasted of its adaptation to the capacities of children, — and, on the 
second page, there was this definition of the words " zenith and nadir :" — " zenith 
and nadir, two Arabic words importing their own signification!'' A few yeai's 
since, an English traveler and book-maker, who called himself Thomas Ashe, Esq., 
visited the Big Bone Licks, in Kentucky, wliere he found the remains of the 
mammoth, in great abundance, and whence he carried away several wagon-loads 
of bones. In describing the size of one of the shoulder-blades of that animal, he 
says, it " was about as large as a hreakfast-tahle !" A child's mind may be dark 
and ignorant before, but, under such explanations as these, darkness will coagu- 
late, and ignorance be sealed in hermeticaUy. Let a school be so conducted but 
for one season, and all life will be abstracted from it ; and it will become the 
painful duty of the school committee, at its close to attend a post-mortem ex- 



242 MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 

aminatioii of the children, — without even the melancholy satisfaction of believing 
that science Avill be benefited by the horrors of the dissection. 

Every teacher should be competent to some care of the health of his pupils, — 
not merely for the purpose of regulating the temperatiu-e of the school-room, and, 
of course, the transition ■which the scholars must undergo, on entermg or leaving 
it, — though this is of no small unportance, — but so that, as occasion offers, he 
may inculcate a knowledge of some of the leading conditions upon which health 
and hfe depend. I saw, last year, in the pubMc town school of Northampton, — 
under the care of Mr. R. M. Hubbard, — more than a Inmdred boys, from ten or 
eleven to fiften or sixteen years of age, Avho pointed out the place and gave the 
name of all the principal bones m their bodies, as well as an anatomist would 
have done ; who explained the physiological processes of the circulation of the 
blood and the aliiiientation of food, and described the putrefactive action of ar- 
dent spirits upon the delicate tissues of the stomach. Now such boys have a 
chance, nay, a certainty, of far longer life and far better health, than they would 
otherwise have ; and as they grow up, they will be far less easily tempted to 
emulate either of tlie tlu'ee cockney graces, — Gin, Swearing, and Tobacco. 

But I must pass by other considerations, respecting the growth and invigora- 
tion of the intellectual faculties, and the classes of subjects upon which they 
should be employed. I hasten to the consideration of another topic, incalculably 
more important. 

The moral faculties increase or decline, strengthen or languish, by the same 
law of exercise. In legislating for men, actions are mainly regarded ; but in the 
education of children, motives are every thing, motives are evee,t thing. All, 
this side of the motive, is mere mechanism, and it matters not whether it be 
done by the hand, or by a crank. There was profound philosophy in the old 
theological notion, that whoever made a league with the devd, in order to gratify 
a passion through liis help, became the devil's property afterward. And so, 
when a teacher stunulates a child to the performance of actions, externally right, 
by appealing to motives intrinsically wrong, he sells that child mto bondage to 
the wrong motive. Some parents, finding a desire of luxurious food a stronger 
motive-power in their cliildren than any other, accomphsh every tiling tlu-ougli 
its means. They hu'e them to go to school and learn, to go to church and re- 
member the text, and to behave well before company, by a promise of dainties. 
Every repetition of this enfeebles the sentiment of duty, through its inaction, 
while it increases the desire for delicacies, by its exercise ; and as they success- 
ively come into competition afterward, the vu-tue will be found to have become 
weaker, and the appetite stronger. Such parents touch the wrong pair of 
nerves, — the sensual instead of the moral, the bestial instead of the divine. 
These springs of action lie at the very extremes of human nature, — one class 
down among the brutes, the other up among the seraphmi. When a cliild, so 
educated, becomes a man, and circumstances make him the trustee or fiduciary 
of the friendless and unprotected, and he robs the widow and orphan to obtaiii 
the means of luxury or voluptuousness, we exclaim, " Poor human nature," and 
are ready to appoitit a Fast ; when the truth is, he was educated to be a knave 
under that very temptation. Were a surgeon to operate upon a human body 
with as little knowledge of his subject as this, and whip round liis double-edged 
knife where the vital parts lie thickest, he would be tried for manslaughter at 
the next court, and deserve conviction. 

Take another example ; — and I instance one of the motive-forces which, for the 
last fifty or a hundred years, has been mainly relied on, in our schools, academies, 
and colleges, as the stunulus to intellectual effort, and which has done more 
than every thing else to cause the madness and the profligacy of those political 
and social rivalries that now convulse the land. Let us take a child who has 
only a moderate love of learning, but an inordinate passion for praise and place ; 
and we therefore allm-e him to study by the enticements of precedents and ap- 
plause. If he wiU surpass all his fellows, we advance him to the post, and sig- 
nahze him with the badges of distinction, and never suffer the siren of flattery 
to cease the enchantments of her song. If he ever has any compassionate mis- 
givings in regard to the effect which his own promotion may have upon his less 
brUliant, though not less meritorious fellow-pupUs, then we seek to withdraw his 
thoughts from this vii'tuous channel, and to turn them to the selfish contempla- 



MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 



143 



tion of Ms own brilliant fortunes in future years ; — if waking conscience erer 
whispers in liis eai', that that pleasure is dishonorable which gives pain to the 
innocent ; then we dazzle him with the gorgeous vision of triumphal honors and 
applauduig multitudes ; — and when, in after-Ufe, this victim of false influences 
deserts a righteous cause because it is declining, and joins an um-ighteous one 
because it is prospering, and sets his name in history's piUory, to be scoffed and 
jeered at for ages, then we pour out lamentations, in prose and verse, over the 
moral suicide ! And yet, by such a course of education, he was prepared be- 
forehand, like a skillfully organized machine, to prove a traitor and an apostate 
at that very conjuncture. No doubt, a college-boy will learn more Greek and 
Latin if it is generally understood that college-honors are to be mainly awarded 
for proficiency in those languages ; but what care we though a man can speak 
seven languages, or di'eams in Hebrew or Sanscrit, because of their faniiUarity, 
if he has never learned the language of sympathy for' human suffering, and is 
deaf when the voice of truth and duty utters then holy mandates ! We want 
men who feel a sentiment, a consciousness, of brotherhood for the whole human 
race. We want men who will instruct the ignorant, — not delude them ; who 
will succor the weak, — not prey upon them. We want men who will fly to the 
moral breach when the waters of desolation are pouring in, and who wfll stand 
there, and, if need be, die there, — applause or no applause. K'o doubt, every 
one is bound to take watchful care of that portion of his happiness which right- 
fully depends upon the good opinion of others ; but before any teacher attempts 
to secure the proficiency of his pupUs by inflaming then' love of praise and place, 
ought he not to appeal, with earnest and prolonged entreaty, to every higher 
sentiment ? and even then, should he fail of arousing a deske for improvement, 
would it not be better to abandon a pupil to mediocrity, or even insignificance, 
than to insure him the liighest eminence by awakening an unholy ambition in his 
bosom ? It is mfinitely better for any nation to support a hospital for fools, than 
to have a parliament or a congress of knaves. 

And thus it is with aU moral developments. Ignorance may appeal to a 
wrong motive, and thus give inordinate strength to an inferior sentiment, wliile 
honestly in quest of a right action. For a few times, perhaps even for a few 
years, the appeal may be successful ; but, by-and-by, the inferior sentiment, or 
propensity, will gain predominance, and usurp the throne, and rule by virtue of 
its own might. 

So, too, a train of circumstances may be prepared, or a system of government 
adopted, designed by their author for good, yet productive of a venomous brood 
of feelings. Suppose a teacher attempts to secure obedience by fear, instead of 
love, but still lacks the energy or the talent requisite for success. Forthwith, 
and from the necessity of the case, there are two hostile parties in that school, — 
the teacher Avith his government to maintain, the pupils with then various and 
ever-springing desires to gratify, in defiance of that government. Wot only will 
there be revolts and mutinies, revolutions and counter-revolutions m such a 
school, but, what is infinitely worse, because of its meanness and baseness, there 
will be generated a moral pestilence of deception and trickery. The boldest 
spirits, — those akeady too bold and fool-hardy, — will break out into open rebell- 
ion, and thus begin to quaUfy themselves to become, in after-Ufe, violators and 
contemners of the laws of society ; wliile those who are akeady prone to con- 
cealment and perfidy, will sharpen their wits for deception ; they will pretend 
to be saying or doing one thing when saying or doing another ; they will sever 
the connection between tongue and heart; they will make the eyes, the face, 
and all the organs that contribute to the natural language behe the thoughts ; 
and, in fine, will turn the whole body into an instrument of dissimulation. Such 
cMdi-en, under such management, are every day preparing to become, — not men 
of frankness, of ingenuousness, of a beautiful transparency of disposition, — but 
sappers and miners of character, — men accomphshing all their ends by strata- 
gem and ambush, and as full of guile as the first serpent. Who of us has not 
seen some individual so secretive and guileful as to be impervious to second- 
sight, or even to the boasted vision of animal magnetism ? I cannot but believe 
that most of those hateful specimens of dupUcity, — I might rather say, of tripli- 
city, or multipUcity, — which we sometimes encounter in society, had their origin 
in the attempts made in early life to evade commands injudiciously given, or not 



J 4.4 MR. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 

enforced when given. If any thing pertaining to the education of childi'en de- 
mands discretion, prudence, wisdom, it is the commands which we impose upon 
them. In no case ought a command ever to be issued to a child without a moral 
certainty either that it will be voluntarily obeyed, or, if resisted, that it can be 
enforced ; because disobedience to superiors, who stand at first in the place of 
the child's conscience, prejjares the way for disobedience to conscience itself, 
when that faculty is developed. Hence the necessity of discriminating, as a 
preliminary, between what a cliUd will do, or can be made to do, and the con- 
trary. Hence, when disobedience is apprehended, the issue should be tried 
rather on a case of prohibition than of injunction, because a child can be deterred 
when he cannot be compelled. Hence, also, the necessity of discriminating be- 
tween what a child has the moral power to do, and what it is in vain to expect 
from him. Take a child who has been brought^up luxmiously, indulgently, self- 
ishly, and command him, hi the first instance, to incur some great sacrifice for a 
mere stranger, or for some object wliich he neither understands nor values, and 
disobedience is as certain as long days ia the middle of June ; — I mean the dis- 
obedience of the spirit, for fear, perhaps, may secure the performance of the out- 
ward act. Such a child knows nothuig of the impulsions of conscience, of the 
joyful emotions that leap up ia the hearf after the performance of a generous 
deed ; and it is as absurd to put such a weight of self-denial upon his benevo- 
lence, the first time, as it would be to put a camel's load upon his shoulders. 
Such a chUd is deeply diseased. He is a moral paralytic. In regard to all 
benevolent exertion and sacrifice, he is as weak as an infant ; and he can be re- 
covered and strengthened to virtuous resolutions only by degrees. "What should 
we think of a physician, who, the first time his patient emerged from a sick 
chamber, — pallid, emaciated, tottering, — should prescribe a match at wrestling, 
or the running of races ? Yet this would be only a parallel to the mode in 
which selfish or vicious children are often treated ; nay, some persons prepare or 
select the most difficult cases, — cases requiring great generosity or moral intre- 
pidity, — by which to break new beginners into the work of benevolence or duty. 
If, by a bad education, a child has lost all generous affections (for no child is 
born without them) ; if he never shares his books or divides his luxuries with his 
playmates ; if he liides his playthings at the approach of liis little visitors ; if his 
eye never kindles at the recital of a magnanimous deed, — of course I mean one 
the magnanimity of which he can comprehend, — then he can be won back to 
kindness and justice only by laborious processes, and in ahnost imperceptible 
degrees. In every conversation before such children, generosity and self-denial 
should be spoken of with a fervor of admiration and a glow of sympathy. Stories 
should be told or read before them, in which the principal actors are signalized 
by some of the quaUties they delight in (always provided that no element of 
evil mingles with them) ; and when their attachments are firmly fastened upon 
hero or heroine, then the social, amiable, and elevated sentiments which are 
deficient in the cliildren themselves, should be developed in the actors or charac- 
ters whom they have been led to admhe. A chdd may be led to admire quali- 
ties on account of theh relationships and associations, Avhen he would be indif- 
ferent to them if presented separately. If a child is selfish, the occasion for kind 
acts should be prepared, where all the accompaniments are agreeable. As the 
sentiment of benevolence gains tone and strength, and begins to reaUze some of 
those exquisite gratifications which God, by its very constitution, has annexed to 
its exercise, then let the collateral inducements be weakened, and the experi- 
ments assume more of the positive character of virtue. In this way, a child so 
selfish and envious as to be grieved even at the enjoyment of others, may be 
won, at last, to seek for dehght in offices of humanity and self-sacrifice. There 
is always an avenue through which a child's mind can be reached ; the failures 
come from our want of perseverance and sagacity in seeking it. We must treat 
moral more as we treat physical distempers. Week after week the mother sits 
by the sick-bed, and welcomes fasting and vigils ; her watchfulness surrounds 
her child, and with all the means and apphances that wealth or life can com- 
mand, she strives to bar up every avenue through which death can approach 
him. Did mothers care as much for the virtues and moral habits as for the 
health and hfe of their offspring, would they not be as patient, as hopeful, and 



ME. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. I45 

as long-suffering in administering antidote and remedy to a child who is morally, 
as to one who is physically, diseased ? 

Is it not in the way above described, — after a slowly brightening twilight of 
weeks, perhaps of months, — that the ocuhst, at last, lets in the Ught of the merid- 
ian sun upon the couched eye ? Is it not ia this way, that the convalescent of 
a fevered bed advances, from a measured pittance of the weakest nutrition, to 
that audacious health which spurns at all restraints upon appetite, whether as to 
quantity or quahty ? For these healings of the diseased eye or body, we de- 
mand tlie professional skill and science of men, educated and trained to the work ; 
nay, if any impostor or empkic wantonly tampers with eye or life, the injured 
party accuses liim, the officers of the law arrest him, the jurors upon their oaths 
convict liim, the judges pass sentence, and the sheriff executes the mandates of 
the law ; — while parties, officers, jurors, judges, and sheriffs, with one consent, 
employ teachers to direct and train the godlike faculties of their children, who 
never had one hour of special study, who never received one lesson of special 
instruction, to fit them for then- momentous duties. 

K, then, the business of education, in all its departments, be so responsible ; if 
there be such habihty to excite and strengthen any one faculty of the opening 
mind, instead of its antagonist ; if there be such danger of promoting animal and 
selfish propensities into command over social and moral sentiments ; if it be so 
easy for an unskillful hand to adjust opportunity to temptation in such a way 
that the exposed are almost certain to fall ; if it be a work of such delicacy and 
difficulty to reclaim those who have wandered ; if, in fine, one, not deeply con- 
versant with the human soul, with all its various faculties and propensities, and 
with all the circumstances and objects which naturally excite them to activity, 
is in incomparably greater danger of touching the wrong spring of action, than 
one unacquainted with music is of toucliing the wrong key or cliord of the moat 
comphcated musical instrument, — then, ought not every one of those who are 
installed into the sacred office of teacher, to be " a workman who needeth not to 
be ashamed ?" Surely, they should laiow, beforehand, how to touch the right 
spring, with the right pressure, at the right time. 

There is a terrible disease that sometunes afflicts individuals, by wliich all the 
muscles of the body seem to be unfastened from the volitions of the mind, and 
then, after being promiscuously transposed, to be refastened ; so that a wrong 
pair of muscles is attached to every vohtion. In such a case, the afflicted patient 
never does the thing he intends to do. If he would walk forward, his will starts 
the wrong pair of muscles, and he walks backward. When he would extend his 
right arm to shake hands with you, in salutation, he starts the wrong pair of 
muscles, thrusts out his left, and slaps or punches you. Precisely so is it with 
the teacher who knows not what faculties of his pupils to exercise, and by what 
objects, motives, or processes, they can be brought into activity. He is the will 
of the school ; they are the body which that wiU moves ; and, thi'ough ignorance, 
he is perjDetually applying his will to the wrong points. What wonder, then, if, 
sjjending day after day in pulhng at the wrong pahs of muscles, the teacher in- 
volves the school in inextricable disorder and confusion, and, at last, comes to the 
conviction that they were never made to go right ? 

But, says an objector, can any man ever attain to such knowledge that he can 
touch as he should this " harp of thousand strings ?" Perhaps not, I reply ; but 
ask, m my turn, Cannot every man know better than he now does ? Cannot 
something be done to make good teachers better, and incompetent ones less in- 
competent ? Cannot sometiiuig be done to promote the progi-ess and to dimin- 
ish the dangers of aU our schools ? Cannot something be done to increase the 
intelligence of those female teachers, to whose hands ova: children are committed, 
in the earliest and most impressible periods of childhood ; — and thus, in the end, 
to increase the intelligence of mothers, — for every mother is ex officio a member 
of the College of Teachers ? Cannot something be done, by study, by discus- 
sion, by practical observation, — and especially by the institution of Normal 
Schools, — which shall diffuse both the art and the science of teaching more 
widely through our community, than they have ever yet been diffused ? 

My friends, you cannot go for any considerable distance in any du-ection, within 
the limits of our beloved Commonwealth, without passing one of those edifices 
professedly erected for the education of our children. Though rarely an archi- • 

J 



146 



MB. MANN'S LECTURE IN 1838. 



tectural ornament, yet, always, they are a moral beauty, to the land in -whicli 
we dwell. Enter with me, tor a moment, into one of these important, though 
lowly mansions. Sm'vey those thickly seated benches, Before us are clustered 
the children of to-day, the men of to-morrow, the immortals of eternity ! What 
costly works of art ; what splendid galleries of sculjDture or of painting, won by 
a nation's arms, or purchased by a nation's wealth, are comparable in value to 
the treasures we have in these childi-en? How many living and palpitating 
nerves come down from parents and friends, and center in their young hearts l 
and, as they shall advance in life, other living and palpitating nerves, which no 
man can number, shall go out from their bosoms to twine roimd other hearts, and 
to feel their throbs of pleasure or of pain, of rapture or of agony ! How many 
fortunes of others shall be linked with their fortunes, and shall share an equal 
fate. As yet, to the hearts of these young beings, crime has not brought in its 
retinue of fears, nor disappointment its sorrows. Their joys are joys, and their 
hopes more real than our reaUties ; and, as visions of the futm-e burst upon their 
imaginations, their eye kindles, like the young eagle's at the morning sunbeam. 
Grouping these children into separate cu-cles, and looking forward, for but a few 
short years, to the fortunes that await them, shall we predict their destiny, in 
the terrific language of the poet : — 

" TUese shall the fury passions tear 
The vultures of the mmd, 
Disdainful Anger, pallid Fear, 
And Shame that skullis behind. 

" Ambition this shall tempt to rise, 
Then whirl the wretch from high, 
To bitter Scorn a sacrifice, 
And grummg Infamy. 

"The stings of Falsehood, those shall try, 
And hard uiikindness' alter'd eye 
That mocks the tear it forced to flow ; 
And keen Remorse, with blood defiled, 
And moody Madness, laughing wild, 
Amid severest woe ; — " 

or, concentrating our whole souls into one resolve, — ^highvand prophetically 
strong, — that our duty to these diildren shall h^: don<; shall we proclaim, in the 
blessed language of the Savior; — "It is not the will of, voue Father which 

IS IN HEAVEN, THAT ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES SHOUlt) PH^ISH." 



AN ADDRESS* 

BT 

EDWARD EVERETT, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, 

AT THE OPENING OP THE NORMAL SCHOOL AT BARRE, SEPTEMBER 5, 1839. 



We are assembled to take a suitable public notice of the opening of an in- 
stitution in this place, destined, as we hope, to exercise a salutary influence on 
the cause of common school education. The visitors of the institution have 
thought it expedient that a public explanation should be made, at this time, of 
its nature and objects, and of the hopes and expectations with which it is 
founded ; and they have requested me, on their behalf, to appear before you for 
this purpose. I have compiled with their request cheerfully. My official con- 
nection with the Board of Education, which, under the authority of the Legisla- 
ture, has established the school, and the deep personal interest I take in the 
result of this experiment for the improvement of popular education in the com- 
monwealth, (convinced as I am that the time has come when it is incumbent 
on the people of Massachusetts to do more than has yet been done for the im- 
provement of their common schools,) are the motives which have led me, at 
considerable personal inconvenience, to undertake the duty which has been 
assigned to me on this occasion. 

The institution which is now opened in this pleasant and prosperous village, 
is devoted to the education of teachers of common schools, and is called a 
Normal School. The name normal is derived from a Latin word, which signi- 
fies a rule, standard, or law. Schools of this character were called Normal 
Schools, on their establishment in France, either because they were designed to 
serve in themselves as the model or rule by which other schools should be 
organized and instructed, or because their object was to teach the rules and 
methods of instructing and governing a school. This name has been adopted 
to designate the schools for teachers established in Massachusetts, because it is 
already in use to denote similar institutions in Europe ; because it applies ex- 
clusively to schools of this kind, and prevents their being confounded with any 
others; and because it is short, and of convenient use. It has been already 
adopted in England and in our sister states, in writing and speaking of institu- 
tions for the education of teachers. 

Schools of this kind are of comparatively recent date. In 1748, a private 
school for teachers was established by the Rev. John Julius Hecker, a minister 
of the gospel at Berlin, and chief counselor of the consistory of that place. A 
document cited by M. Cousin, in his celebrated report on the subject of public 
instruction in Prussia, speaks of Hecker as "the first individual who undertook 
to train young men for the art of teaching." This little institution was founded 
at a very critical period in the history of Prussia, and even of Europe ; in fact, 
it was an era of mighty movement throughout the world. Frederic II., com- 
monly, and by a somewhat questionable title, called the Great, was projecting 
the plans of aggrandizement by which he aimed to raise Prussia, before his 
time a secondary state, to the rank of a leading power in Europe. It would 
have been happy for his subjects and mankind if all his measures had been as 
wise or as innocent as those which he adopted for the improvement of educa- 
tion. He seems early to have comprehended the importance of the systematic 
education of teachers ; and in the year 1754, the private school, established 
under the auspices of Mr. Hecker, was raised to the rank of a royal primary 
school for the education of schoolmasters and parish clerks. It was directed, 
by a royal ordinance of that year, that all schoolmasters and parish clerks, 
whose places were ia the gift of the crown, should be appointed from this insti- 
tution. It is probable that at the same time funds were appropriated by the 
government for its support. 

' Copied by permission from " Orations and Speeches on various occasions, by Edward 
Everett. 2 vols. Boston : Charles C. Little andJames Brown. 1850." 



148 GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. 

Scarcely, however, was this beginning made in the systematic education of 
teachers, when the dreadful Seven Years' war came on ; a war which spread 
from our western wilderness, where it broke out, to the bounds of the civilized 
world, and the remotest European settlements in India. Frederic was the hero 
of this war on the continent of Europe. He conducted it with a perseverance, 
skill and resolution, which astonished mankind, and came out of it with an ex- 
hausted treasury, shattered health, and a wasted kingdom. The Normal School 
at Berlin, in common with all the other institutions of the country, languished 
under the pressure of the times. It remained, with the exception of a few incon- 
siderable establishments of the same character in the city of Berlin, the only 
institution for the education of teachers, and was, of course, wholly inadequate 
to the wants of the kingdom. In 1770, a fund of four thousand dollars annu- 
ally was appropriated by Frederic for the general improvement of the Prussian 
schools, and it was expended in raising the salaries of teachers. A considera- 
ble impulse was given to the cause of education by this endowment ; but I do 
not find any further notice of the progress of Normal Schools during the residue 
of his reign. 

Shortly after his death, the French Revolution began ; and in the disastrous 
wars and convulsions to which it gave rise, the various states of Germany, and 
none more so than Prussia, were trampled to the dust. The etfects were felt 
in all their institutions ; but, as often happens in human affairs, the moment of 
extremest depression is the moment of commencing regeneration. The Prus- 
sian monarchy, broken by the fatal battle of Jena, in 1806, seemed on the verge 
of dissolution, and to owe a precarious existence to the clemency of Napoleon. 
At this gloomy period, it occurred to some noble minds to attempt the restora- 
tion of affairs by a strong appeal to the popular mind, and by awakening a 
powerful sentiment of patriotism. Every thing was resorted to which could 
promote this end. The clergy were appealed to ; the high schools and univer- 
sities were agitated ; a secret association, rnider the name of the Union of Virtue, 
(Tugendbund,) was formed throughout the country; the ancient German cos- 
tume was revived; a jealousy of foreigners inculcated ; and, as an important 
instrument toward the end in view, the attention of the government was, in 
1809, again particularly turned to the subject of education of teachers. In 18]0, 
the Normal School at Berlin was re-organized; but before the result could be 
seen, the great and final struggle of the northern powers of Europe with Napo- 
leon look place. The conflict was for the independence or subjection, the life 
or death, of nations. The entire population rose as a man at the call of the 
governments; the universities and academies sent their young men, scarce able 
to bear the weight of a musket, to the war; and it terminated in the overthrow 
of the invader. 

From that moment, every thing in Germany seemed animated with new life. 
Prussia, in particular, with the establishment of a general peace, bent all the 
power of the monarchy upon national education, as the great safeguard of na- 
tional independence. The Normal School of Berlin was transferred to Potsdam, 
as a situation more retired and favorable for its objects. Similar schools were 
proposed throughout the kingdom, and in other parts of Germany ; and in the 
year 1819, the subject of education was referred to a separate department of the 
government, under a minister of state exclusively devoted to its administration. 
The present organization of the Prussian system of education dates from this 
period, and by the provisions of an ordinance of the government of the same 
year, a royal Normal School is established in each of the tisn provinces of the 
kingdom, as an essential part of the system. From these seminaries, with the 
aid derived from various local establishments of the same character, teachers 
thoroughly trained in the art of instruction are furnished for all the public 
schools of Prussia. The same process has been going on contemporaneously 
in Saxony, in Bavaria, in Wirtemberg, in Baden, and other German states. 
The example early spread to France, and more recently to Holland. One or 
two institutions of a private character have, it is believed, been established in 
England for the formation of teachers ; and it has been proposed at the present 
session of parliament, by a committee of the privy council of the realm, to found 
a central Normal School in the city of London.* 

* Since the delivery of this address, this and other similar projects have gone into highly suc- 
cessful operation in England, under the auspices of the committee of the privy council for edu 
cation. 



- GOV, EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. 149 

The attention of the friends of education in several of the states of the Union 
has for some time been turned to this subject. In New York, some provision 
has been made by the Legislature for training teachers at the incoiporated acad- 
emies of the state. In some of our own respectable academies, the qualifying 
of teachers of both sexes has been particularly attended to, and these establish- 
ments, in point of fact, have served as the nurseries from which many of our 
schools have been furnished with instructors. In addition to what has been 
done in this way, an institution, amply endowed by private liberality, has ex- 
isted for some time at Andover, expressly devoted to the education of instruct- 
ors. Many respectable teachers have, it is believed, been formed at this school. 
The subject of special provision by public authority for the education of 
teachers has at many different times, within the last few years, been considered 
by the committees of education of the two branches of the Legislature. Their 
establishment has been strongly urged in the reports which, from time to time, 
have emanated from this source. Among those who have recommended such 
a provision with the greatest zeal and intelligence, it would be unjust not to 
mention the name of a citizen of this county, (Mr. Carter, of Lancaster,) who, 
both in a separate publication and in ofhcial reports as a member of both 
branches of the Legislature, has rendered distinguished service in this way. 

In the first report of the Board of Education, at the beginning of the year 
1838, the attention of the Legislature was invited to this subject. In the course 
of the ensuing session, the secretary of the board was authorized by a friend of 
education, whose name was not communicated to the public,* to inform the 
Legislature that ten thousand dollars would be furnished by him whenever the 
same sum should be appropriated from the public treasury, to be expended 
under the direction of the Board of Education in qualifying teachers for the 
common schools of Massachusetts. This offer was promptly accepted by the 
Legislature, and the requisite appropriation made. 

The steps taken by the Board of Education, in discharge of the important 
trust thus devolved upon them, are minutely set forth in their second annual 
report, which was made to the Legislature at the commencement of the last ses- 
sion. It will be suflicient to observe, on the present occasion, that after delib- 
erate and anxious reflection, and a careful comparison of the claims of various 
places- proposed, in different parts of the commonwealth, Lexington, in Middle- 
sex county, and Barre, in Worcester county, have been selected as the sites of 
two of the Normal Schools. A confident expectation is entertained that a third 
may shortly be established in some other part of the state.t 

These institutions are, of course, to some extent experimental. They are so 
of necessity. The funds provided for their support, with all the subsidiary aid 
which can reasonably be expected from the friends of education in the neigh- 
borhood of the schools, although highly creditable to the generous spirit by 
which they are furnished, are quite inadequate to the endowment of permanent 
establishments. For reasons set forth in the report to which I have alluded, it 
was thought proper not to stake the result of the whole trial on one school ; but 
to afford to different parts of the commonwealth an opportunity of judging for 
themselves. It was further considered that three years is the shortest period 
which would authorize any safe conclusion as to the operation of the system. 
It will readily be perceived that when the funds to be disposed of are divided 
among three schools, and distributed over three years, it becomes necessary to 
adopt the most frugal scale of expenditure not inconsistent with the object to be 
attained. Our situation in this respect is widely different from that of foreign 
countries, where ample funds for objects of this kind are appropriated by wealthy 
governments; Avhere buildings, apparatus, libraries, and the maintenance of 
pupils, are provided for by permanent dotations ; and as many instructors are 
supported as are deemed necessary for the fullest development of the system. 

The narrowness of the means from which the experiment of our Normal 
Schools is undertaken may (though we trust it will not) defeat its success. We 
hope that so much good will manifeslly be done Avithin the range of our re- 
sources, that the Legislature will be disposed, and private benefactors encour- 
aged, to convert our temporary Normal Schools into permanent foundations for 
the qualification of teachers. Still, however, we trust, in justice to all con- 

* The late Hon. Edmund Dwight. 

1" Since this address was delivered, a third Normal School has been founded at Bridgewater, 
and those at Lexington and Barre have been transferred to Newton and Wcstfield. 



150 GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. 

cemed, that it will be borne in mind, that this experiment is conducted under 
considerable disadvantages, independent of the difficulties incident to the organ- 
ization of every new institution. This consideration, we trust, will secure us 
the sympathy and co-operation of the community in which the schools are estab- 
lished, and of the jDublic at large. It is always of great importance to a youth- 
ful institution, that it should be kindly regarded in the place where it is estab- 
lished. We trust that the respected principal of this school, and all who may 
have a joint care with him in conducting it, and all who resort to it to qualify 
themselves as teachers, will enjoy the good will, and be favored with the coun- 
tenance and kind offices, of the reverend clergy of all denominations, of the indi- 
viduals of lead and influence in the other professions, and of the citizens 
generally in this part of the commonwealth. While no pains will be spared to 
make the school creditable to the community in which it is placed, nothing will 
do more to promote its prosperity than the friendly regard of an enlightened 
public. 

This occasion requires a few remarks on the character and objects of Normal 
Schools, and the importance of a systematic education of teachers. Much has 
been said and written of late on this subject. Not to mention foreign publica- 
tions, it is discussed at length in the legislative reports to which I have alluded, 
and a very valuable essay by Professor Stow-e, on Normal Schools and Teach- 
ers' Seminaries, has recently been given to the public. The necessary limits of 
an address of this kind will require my remarks to be of a very general char- 
acter. 

The office of the teacher, in forming the minds and hearts of the young, and 
training up those who are to take our places in life, is all-important. After all 
that has been said, in all ages, on the subject, more than justice has not been, 
and never can be, done to the theme. With no small part of the children in the 
community, the intercourse of the teacher with the young is scarcely inferior, 
in closeness and the length of time for which it is kept up, to that of the pa- 
rents ; — not at all inferior, in the importance of the objects to be attained by it. 
As soon as the child is old enough to be sent to school, the teacher is relied 
upon to furnish occupation for the opening faculties of the mind, to direct its 
efforts in the acquisition of the elements of knowledge, and to suggest the first 
distinct ideas on some of the most important questions in conduct and morals. 
The child is committed to the teacher's hands in the very morning of life, when 
the character, still more than the young limbs, is, so to say, still in the gristle. 
They have, both limbs and character, acquired some of their proper consistency 
and power of resistance ; but to how much of the intellectual and moral frame 
are not the first impress and shaping to be given at school ■? Is this a light 
matter 1 If the teacher was to fashion your child's personal proportions, or to 
remold his features, with what jealousy would you inquire after his qualifica- 
tion for that task 1 Is it of less importance how he fashions and molds the 
features of the mind ? Is it of small account, whether your child's germinating 
faculties — to use a proverbial expression, to which no rhetoric can add force — 
shall be " nipped in the bud," a bud in which seeds of immortal life and heav- 
enly intelligence have been curiously wrapped by the Creator 1 The husband- 
man can tell us if it is a matter of little or no consequence whether you employ 
a skillful or an unskillful person to raise a cro ;: of corn, the growth of a few 
months, under a simple process of culture. And yet so much depends on pro- 
per management, that from the same seed you may see, in one field, the corn 
towering up, vigorous, swelling with life and strength, its broad, healthy leaves 
crackling till the farmer thinks he can both hear it and see it grow, the graceful 
tassel dancing on the summit of the stalk, and dropping its fertilizing powder 
on the silken filaments, which force their way from the top of the husk to receive 
the vital principle, and convey it to the ripening ear ; and perhaps on the other 
side of the way, in a corner of the sluggard's garden, struggling with rank weeds 
for the joint possession of the unenriched soil, you will see, from the same seed, 
a scanty, blighted, sickly crop, yellow as saffron when it ought to be green, and 
black when it ought to be yellow, and scarce promising a few meager stalks for 
the barn-yard. Whenever I witness such a contrast in the natural world, I ask 
myself, with trembling, whether the mind is a principle so much less delicate 
than a blade of grass, — whether the proper care and culture of the intellect, the 
raising up and the training up of that unspeakable mystery on earth, a tliinking, 
reasoning, discoursing, immortal creature, — are so inferior in importance, in 



GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. 



151 



difficulty, and in the amount of the consequences involved, that while we would 
triist the tillage of our field, the sowing of our corn, and the gathering of the 
harvest, only to an expert and a judicious hand, any one may be trusted to 
keep our schools and cultivate the minds of our children? 

These inquiries scarcely need an answer. Every man's reflection who is 
able to reason on the subject, — every one's observation who has turned his at- 
tention to it, — every one's experience who has had children of his own confided 
to a succession of teachers, and still more, who, at any time, has himself been 
engaged in the business of instruction, will satisfy himself that the teacher's duty 
is important, complicated, and arduous. It is not a mere piece of job-work, to 
which any one may turn his hand, but a professional calling, which requires 
knowledge, judgment, and experience. 

There is scarce such a thing conceivable, as even a solitarj'- act, consisting 
of several parts or movements, which does not admit of every degree of excel- 
lence in the manner and success of the performance. See two men handle an 
ax, in cutting down a tree, one a raw hand, the other a practiced woodman. 
Look at two persons on horseback, of equal courage and strength, the one for 
the first time in his life in the saddle, the other an expert rider. One seems to 
realize the fable of the Centaur, as if he were himself a part of the animal on 
which he is moving ; the other can scarce keep his seat. Let an inexperienced 
person go to work with a handsaw or a paint brush ; or imdertake to conduct a 
piece of cloth through a power-loom, or to cover a whip-handle with its myste- 
rious network; and he will be very sure, for several times, to fail. I think 
there are few persons in this assembly, except those who may have had con- 
siderable practice, who can drive a nail straight into a board, without striking 
their fingers with the hammer. In fact, " to hit a nail on the head," simple as 
the operation seems, is in reality one of so much nicety, that it has become a 
proverbial expression for dexterity and skill. 

We might cast our eyes over the entire circle of human pursuit, and find new 
illustrations of the necessity of diligent preparation for every calling ; and no 
one can seriously suppose that the office of an instructor makes an exception. 
But inasmuch as institutions for the education of teachers are as yet hardly 
known by name among us, it is a natural question how teachers in oar country 
have hitherto been able to prepare themselves for the discharge of their duties. 
May not the means which have hitherto proved adequate for the supply of our 
schools with competent instructors, still suflice for thatpurpose ? The question 
is a fair one, and deserves a candid answer. 

Whoever thinks that we are favored with an ample supply of teachers, as 
well qualified as can be wished, needs no furiher answer. Whoever considers 
that of the teachers in times past and at the present day in our schools, there 
are those possessing all degrees of qualification, from veiy high to very low, it 
will seem a pertinent inquiry, what their means of preparation have been ; and 
such an inquirer will probably be of opinion that we need a more systematic 
and efficient preparation for this purpose. 

We must assume, then, first, that natural aptitude goes very far, on the plan 
hitherto pursued, in deciding the qualification of the teacher. This, under all 
circumstances, will be an important element. One man will be a better teacher, 
with little or no training or experience, than some others, who pass their lives 
in the business. This, however, is equally the case in every pursuit or calling. — 
in law, physic, and divinity, in trade, manufactures, and farming, — and is never 
thought to supersede the necessity of education. Some remain inefficient and 
incapable afier every imaginable advantage ; others, with slender opportunities, 
bound, as it were, at a single leap, to the front rank. I have seen a person, 
who, from his infancy, never knew a want ; who passed from the arms of a 
careful nurse into the care of the best of teachers; who enjoyed, from the first, 
every conceivable aid and encouragement, (except the most efficient of all, the 
spur of necessity,) the best of masters, the best of books in abundance, and 
steady schooling, and, at the close of his school education, grossly ignorant in 
every branch of knowledge ; while another, of the same age, educated under the 
stern discipline of necessity, with limited means, the ordinary chance of in- 
structors, the old books which his father wore out before him, and attendance at 
school far from steady, has advanced from one branch to another, mastering 
each as he goes, with a keen relish for learning, and an ever-craving appetite 
for new truth. Whatever may be the calling of these two men, one is destined 



252 COV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. 

to eminence, the other to failure. Should circumstances call them to the in- 
structor's desk, it is quite evident that he who has learned little will have slill 
less to teach, while the other will be very likely to exhibit the same facility in 
the communication as in the acquisition of knowledge. 

In the next place, the teacher's fitness, at the present day, depends very much 
on the kind of instruction which he received himself while at school. If he was 
so fortunate as to be taught by a sound, accurate, and judicious instructor, he 
will be not unlikely to exhibit that character himself A good degree of the 
school-keeping capacity, and I may say, also, incapacity, are traceable to this 
source. Our schools are under a kind of traditionary discipline. To a consid- 
erable extent they are kept by young men and women, who make a pretty ra- 
pid transition from the pupil's bench to the master's and mistress's chair. 
Unless they possess strong, original minds, — which are not very common, — 
there is not much likelihood that they will rise above the standard of the schools 
where they were themselves taught. If these were very good, they will be more 
apt to fall below it. Mediocrity is much more apt to be propagated than ex- 
cellence. If a teacher of average capacity keep the school for a few years, he 
will not be likely to make any improvements, and will do very well if he hands 
it over to his successor as good as he found it. When this state of things pre- 
vails in a community for a long course of years, we behold the painful spectacle 
of schools in the rear of every thing else. There is progress in every thing 
else, but the schools are stationary, and even degenerating. I have heard judi- 
cious observers express the doubt, whether the average of our district schools, 
at the present day, are better than they were thirty years ago. If the remark is 
jusi, it is a state of things not very creditable to the commonwealth. To keep 
pace with the general progress of Improvement, they ought to be much better. 
We should be ashamed to be quoted hereafter, as a proof that there is a law in 
the intellectual and moral, like that which has been observed in the natural 
world, with respect to many of the products of the earth — that the fruit which 
is borne on the graft runs out with the original stock. Good husbandry requires 
that attention should be constantly given to the discovery of improved methods, 
and the introduction of new varieties raised from the seed. Tradition is closely 
allied to degeneracy. 

Where the teacher engages in his pursuit for life, a new source of qualifica- 
tion presents itself of great value; I mean experience. He qualifies himself. 
But such teachers are not found, I presume, in many of our common schools. 
They rise to higher stations. Besides this, it may happen, when Experience is 
the teacher, as with teachers of other kinds, the pupil is by no means sure to 
excel his master. Self-instruction is not always improving. It depends on the 
character of a man's mind, how much advantage he derives from experience. 
The experience of one man is clear and decisive. He commits an error, per- 
ceives it, and henceforward avoids it. He is struck with the advantage of some 
procedure or method, traces that advantage to its principle, builds a rule upon 
it, and enlarges or amends his practice to the end of life. The experience of 
other men yields them no such fruit. It is vague and irresolute. They live and 
act, but have no experience, properly so called. Proceeding without steady 
principles of conduct, without the intelligence or the moral aptitude to profit by 
their mistakes, the working of one day counteracts that of another. It is only 
where order, the first law of earth, as well as Heaven, presides, that day unto 
day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth forth knowledge. Without 
this guide of conduct, experience may perplex instead of directing. The mis- 
take of to-day produces the mistake of to-morrow ; and life is exhausted in half- 
finished experiments and constantly-repeated blunders, so that whether a man's 
experience profit him depends upon whether it is good experience, which may 
be either successful experience, or unsuccessful experience wisely heeded ; and 
it may often happen that the recorded experience of another more judicious 
mind will in reality guide a man better than his own. 

The recorded experience of others, then, — that is, books, — is another means 
by which the teacher at present qualifies himself for his calling. Unquestiona- 
bly, the conscientious instructor may derive the greatest advantages from the 
careful study of judicious publications on the subject of his pursuit. The num- 
ber of these is greatly multiplied of late years. It is a branch of literature com- 
paratively of recent growth; and without doing injustice to the works of the 
patriarchs in this science, of Plato and of Cicero to the writings of Ascham, 



GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. I53 

of Milton, of Locke, I am inclined to think that, for practical views, what has 
been written within the last tifly years exceeds, both in amonnt and value, all 
that had before been given to the world on the subject of education. As far as 
my acquaintance with the subject extends, the works of Miss Edgeworth are 
entitled to the credit of having first promulgated, in the English language at 
least, sound and judicious views as to the whole business of education. A per- 
son thoroughly possessed of every thing in her works, would have but little to 
learn, as to general principles, (with one exception.) from other sources. 
There are, however, many things, of course, in her publications, not applicable 
to the condition of things in this country ; and on one all-important topic, the 
subject of religious instruction, there is a deeply to be lamented deficiency. 
For the practical purposes oi' the American teacher, some good works, have 
appeared in our own countiy, of which that of Mr. Jacob Abbott appears to me 
decidedly the best, No person can peruse it without gaining new conceptions 
of the importance of the teacher's duty, and practical hints as to the best method 
of discharging it. Whether a perusal of it will not, in most cases, leave on the 
reader's mind a painful impression as to the imperfection of our schools, in con- 
dition and management, is a question which each must answer for himself 

Prom the various useful works on the business of instruction, the faithful 
teacher will, under all circumstances, flerive great benefit. But neither in this 
nor any other calling, will the solitary study of books effect all that is to be de- 
sired, to say nothing of the objection to this and all the other sources of self- 
instruction, which arises from the condition of the schools, while the master is 
endeavoring to improve himself Those of our children may do well who have 
the advantage of his teaching, after he has qualified himself by experience in 
office and the study of good books ; but what is to become of those who are to 
get their education while this process is going on, and before it has proceeded 
to any valuable extent 1 As a general remark, perhaps it would not be unjust 
to say, that most of our teachers retire from that pursuit about the time they 
become well qualified to carry it on to the greatest advantage. 

We are thus brought to the necessity of some specific preliminary preparation 
for the office of teacher — a preparation which shall fit him in some degree be- 
forehand for his duties. To afford this preparation, is the precise object of a 
Normal School. Nothing is farther from my purpose than to set up the preten- 
sion that there can be no well-qualified teacher without such a school ; but that 
great advantages may be expected from a regular plan of instruction, in semi- 
naries devoted to this object ; a plan of instruction to come in aid of all the 
other means of improvement, on which the faithful teacher must now exclu- 
sively depend. To afford this instruction, is the object of the Normal Schools 
now established in the commonwealth. It is impossible that it should be so 
thorough and comprehensive, as the theory of a perfect institution of the kind 
requires. There are no funds applicable to the expense of such an establish- 
ment; and our young men and women .could not generally afford the time re- 
quisite for a very long course of preparation, because the majority of our districts 
do not require, and would not support, teachers who, having been at great ex- 
pense of time and money in fitting themselves for their calling, would need a 
proportionate compensation. We suppose that many of those who resort to 
these institutions, will, at present, be able only to pass but a part of one year in 
the enjoyment of their advantages ; but while provision is made for the shortest 
period for which any individual could reasonably wish to be received, a thorough 
course of instruction will also be arranged for those who desire to devote a 
longer time to their preparation as teachers. 

Such a course of instruction will obviously consist of the following parts : 

1. A careful review of the branches of knowledge required to be taught in 
our common schools ; it being, of course, the first requisite of a teacher that he 
should himself know well that which he is to aid others in learning. Such an 
acquaintance with these branches of knowledge is much less common than may 
be generally supposed. The remark may sound paradoxical, but I believe it 
will bear examination, when I say, that a teacher thoroughly versed in those 
branches of knowledge only which are taught in our common schools, is as 
difficult to find as a first-rate lawyer, divine, or physician, statesman, man of 
business, or farmer. A good schoolmaster should be able to read and speak the 
English language with propriety, ease, and grace ; and this can not be done with- 
out a thorough knowledge of its grammar. He should possess, at the same 



154 GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. 

time, a clear, shapely, and rapid hand-writing, and be well versed in the ele- 
mental principles and operations of numbers. "Without going beyond these 
three branches, — best designated by the good old-fashioned names of reading, 
writing, and arithmetic. — -I venture to say that a man who possesses them 
thoroughly is as rare as one of corresponding eminence in any of the learned 
professions. And yet the law requires such masters for our district schools. 
What says the statute 1 "In every town containing fifty families or house- 
holders, there shall be kept, in each year, at the charge of the town, by a teacher 
or teachers of competent abilities and good morals, a school for the instruction 
of children in orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, arith- 
metic, and good behavior." 

How few, even of those considered men of education, are thoroughly versed 
even in the branches required by law in our common schools ! How much 
fewer who know them as a teacher should know them ! for a teacher ought to 
know of every thing much more than the learner can be expected to acquire. 
The teacher must know things in a masterly way, curiously, nicely, and in 
their reasons. 

The great mistake in monitorial instruction is, that it supposes that the mo- 
ment the bare knowledge of a fact in its naked form is attained, it qualifies a 
person to teach it to others. The teacher must see the truth under all its 
aspects, with its antecedents and consequents, or he can not present it in just 
that shape in which the young mind can apprehend it. He must, as he holds 
the diamond up to the sun, turn its facets round and round, till the pupil catches 
its luster. It is not an uncommon thing to hear it said of a grown person that 
he is too learned to teach children ; that he knows too much, is too far in ad- 
vance of their minds, to perceive their difiiculties. I imagine the trouble gen- 
erally to be of the opposite character. The man of learning either never 
understood the matter thoroughl}'', or he has forgotten what he once knew. He 
has retained enough of his school learning for the particular calling of life he 
has chosen; but he has not retained a clear recollection of the elemental truths 
which it is necessary the learner should comprehend. If in this state of things 
he can not comprehend the schoolboy's difficulty, it is not his superior wisdom, 
but his ignorance, which is at fault. These remarks apply particularly to the 
science of numbers, over which most of our children pass languishing days and 
weeks, vainly striving to master a hard " sum " or a hard rule, which they 
finally give up in despair, or of which they content themselves with some false 
explanation, from pure want of capacity on the part of the teacher. A child of 
eight or nine years of age, at one of our district schools, had run through the 
chief rules of arithmetic, as it used to be taught, doing all the sums, and setting 
them down in his ciphering book, M^thout the slightest comprehension of the 
reason of any one of the operations. At last, after going for a second or third 
time through the rule of decimals, he, for the first time, caught a glimpse of the 
real nature of a decimal fraction, of which he had been wholly ignorant before, 
and which, in his simplicity, he thought a discovery of his own. It was not till 
some time afterward that he found out that mankind had for a great while been 
aware that a decimal is the numerator of a fraction whose denominator is a unit 
with as many ciphers as the numerator has places. The first object of instruc- 
tion in a Normal School is, as far as possible, in the space of time assigned to 
its instructions, to go over the circle of branches required to be taught, and see 
that the future teacher is thoroughly and minutely versed in them. 

2. The second part of instruction in a Normal School is the art of teaching. 
To know the matter to be taught, and to know it thoroughly, are of themselves, 
though essential, not all that is required. There is a peculiar art of teaching. 
The details of this branch are inexhaustible, but it is hoped that the most im- 
portant principles may be brought within such a compass as to afibrd material 
benefit to those who pass even the shortest time at these institutions. The sub- 
ject should be taken up at its foundation, in those principles of our nature on 
which education depends ; the laws which control the faculties of the youthful 
mind in the pursuit and attainment of truth; and the moral sentiments on the 
part of teacher and pupil which must be brought into harmonious action. The 
future teacher must be instructed in the most efifectual way of reaching untaught 
mind— a process subtile, diflicult, various. The first thing requisite often will 
be to ascertain what has to be unlearned, both as to positive errors and bad 
habits of mind. The child who has been accustomed to add numbers together 



GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. Jgg 

by counting on his fingers, instead of learning a simple addition table by rote 
at the outset; who has formed to himself a small, ill-looking, and illegible 
scrawl, under the name of a running hand, without ever having learned to 
shape the letters in bold and fair proportions ; or who, under the notion of re- 
finements beyond the common standard, has been taught such barbarisms as 
" he shew me the book," " I have began to read it," " had I have had time to 
go," — such a child, I say, comes into the hands of the teacher heavily laden 
with a cargo, which it must be the first labor and care to throw overboard. 

But the art of teaching is not confined to a correction of the errors, or a re- 
form of the bad habits, of the mistaught pupil. Where nothing of this kind is 
to be done, the mind of the learner is still to be guided, aided, and encouraged 
in its progress. The perfection of the art of teaching consists in hitting the 
precise point between that which the studious pupil must do for himself, and 
that which the instructor may do with him and for him. It is not enough, in 
teaching a child to read, to correct with a harsh voice some gross error which 
he may make in reading a verse or two in the New Testament or the" National 
Reader. The teacher must himself, patiently, kindly, and with a gentle voice, 
read the passage over repeatedly, and see that the learner understands the 
meaning of every word, and of the whole sentence. It is peculiar to arithmetic, 
that though there are degrees of readiness in performing its operations, there 
are no degrees of clearness and certainty in the knowledge of its principles. 
The incredible vexation which attends the study of this branch with many 
children, generally arises from the unskillfulness of the teacher, in not taking 
care that the learner, as he goes along, understands thoroughly each successive 
step. If this be done, the child often years old will know what he knows at all 
as well as Sir Isaac Newton. Some simple schoolboy muse, in former times, 
has recorded its sorrowful experience on this subject in the following plaintive 
and, in my day, very popular strain — 

" Multiplication is vexation, 
Division is as bad, 
The rule of three doth puzzle me, 
And practice makes me mad." 

But if proper care be taken that every step be thoroughly understood before 
advancing to the next, multiplication and division will be found as simple as 
addition or subtraction; while the rule of three and practice have been shown, 
in the recent and best school books, to be wholly unnecessary, inasmuch as all 
questions usually performed by their aid can be more readily performed by sim- 
pler processes. 

One thing is certain ; that though there can be no difierence in the average 
capacity of equal numbers of the children in two schools in the same commu- 
nity, there is often a vast difierence in the average scholarship, after the same 
amount of schooling. To what can the difierence be ascribed, but to the dif- 
ferent degrees of skill on the part of teachers "? It is not an uncommon thing 
to find children who, after having been months, and even years, employed either 
on the lower elements or on the higher branches of learning, leave school, at 
last, knowing nothing thoroughly, and not much superficially. They can not 
read with fluency, force, and intelligence, to say nothing of grace and beauty; 
they write a poor, unsteady, hieroglyphical hand ; they have no clear notions 
of grammatical construction, and are awkward and incorrect in the use of 
numbers. Perhaps this is the description of nearly half the children who leave 
school in town or country. The little that is learned of Latin and Greek is 
equally inaccurate and shallow. The fault is commonly laid at the pupil's 
door, especially if he has had what is usually called schooling enough. I think, 
however, generally, that the fault is with the teacher, who is frequently not 
thoroughly versed himself in what he undertakes to teach — more frequently un- 
skilled in the art of teaching. The astonishing difference sometimes noticed 
in the progress of the same school under different teachers, in successive sea- 
sons, shows how much is justly attributable to this cause. 

Besides the general art of teaching, there are peculiar methods, applicable to 
each branch of knowledge, which should be unfolded in the instructions of a 
Normal School; but this is a topic in which my limits do not permit me to en- 
gage. I hasten to 

3. The third branch of instruction to be imparted in an institution, which 
concerns the important subject of the government of the school, and which 



150 GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. 

might perhaps more justly have been named the first. The best method ot 
governing a school — that is, of exercising such a moral influence in it as is most 
favorable to the improvement of the pupils — will form a very important part of 
the course of instruction designed to qualify teachers for their calling. It is 
this part of their duty which is probably least considered by themselves or their 
employers ; for the reason, perhaps, that qualification in this respect is least 
capable of being estimated by an external standard. But how much is not im- 
plied in the words " to govern a school !" For several hours in the day, the 
teacher is to exercise the authority of a parent over fifty or sixty, perhaps over 
ninety or a hundred children. Parents can form an opinion whether this is a 
task to be executed without system, without principles, and as a matter of course ; 
or whether it is not that in which the youthful teacher will most stand in need 
of all the preparation which it is possible to acquire. Without the aid of that 
instinct of natural affection which fortifies parental authority, he is expected, 
with a parent's power, to control alike the docile and the obstinate, the sullen 
and the gay. While his entire intercourse with his pupils is that of constraint 
and requisition, he must acquire an absolute control over many a youthful 
spirit, which has already been irritated by caprice, soured by tyranny, or spoiled 
by indulgence at home. And he is to do this not by violence and storm, but by 
wisely threading the maze of that living labyrinth, the affections of the youthful 
heart. In this department perhaps greater improvement has taken place of late 
years than in any other; there has been a general call for moral influence, in- 
stead of physical power. I do not say that this last should never be resorted to, 
but I trust the day is wholly past for that ferocious warfare between master and 
pupil which was once so general, and with no other effect than that of turning 
the teacher's office into a hateful tyranny, and the happy season of childhood 
into a long martyrdom. Dr. Johnson, in composing a legal argument to be 
used by another person, puts into his mouth the sentiment, " that a school can 
be governed only by fear." It would, I think, have been much nearer the truth 
to say, that a school can be governed only by patient, enlightened. Christian 
love, the master principle of our natures. It softens the ferocity of the savage; 
it melts the felon in his cell. In the management of children it is the great 
source of influence ; and the teacher of youth though his mind be a storehouse 
of knowledge, is ignorant of the first principles of his art, if he has not em- 
braced this as an elemental maxim. 

But let it not be thought that these are smooth sa3dngs, and that moral dis- 
cipline is unattended with difficulty, and preferred by an indolent age for its 
comparative ease. The reverse is nearer the truth. To walk the rounds of 
the school with a ratan in the hand, to be bestowed as liberally on the thought- 
less exuberance of youthful spirits, on the restlessness of the little urchin un- 
used to his confinement, and on the mistakes of mere inadvertence or absolute 
ignorance, as on hardened perversity and resolute disobedience, is a much 
easier task than to graduate each of these cases on the scale of moral demerit, 
and to treat them accordingly. It is related of the late Dr. Bowditch, that he 
very early manifested that skill in numbers which afterward raised him to the 
level of tire first mathematicians of the day. While quite a child at school, he 
performed a difficult sum in arithmetic with astonishing readiness. His school- 
master was at once so ignorant of the mode of governing a school, and had so 
little acquainted himself with the powers of his pupil's mind, that he thought it 
impossible the task should have been performed without assistance, and asked 
who had helped him. On being told by young Bowditch that he had done it 
himself, the coarse tyrant severely chastised him for falsehood — a treatment 
well calculated to subvert the entire moral frame of a sensitive lad, but much 
more simple than it would have been for an understanding such as this master 
possessed to enter into a careful analysis of the capacities of his forward pupil. 

The instruction of the Normal School will therefore dwell on the government 
of youth as of paramount importance; as that part of the teacher's duty which 
demands the rarest union of qualities, which most tries the temper, and I will 
add, when faithfully and judiciously performed, is most important in its results. 
Give me the child whose heart has embraced without violence the gentle lore 
of obedience, in whom the sprightliness of youth has not encroached on defer- 
ence for authority, and I would rather have him for my son, though at the age 
of twelve he should have his alphabet to learn, than be compelled to struggle 
with the caprice of a self-willed, obstinate youth, whose bosom has become a 



GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. i^ij 

viper's nest of the unamiable passions, although in early attainments he may 
be the wonder of the day. 

There are many other topics connected with the teacher's duty, on which it 
may be expected that instruction will be afforded in the Normal School. 
Among these is the all-important subject of direct instruction in morals and re- 
ligion, the relations of teachers and parents, of teachers and the higher school 
authorities, and the duties of teachers to each other and to the community, and 
of the community to them, as the members of a respectable profession. I am 
necessarily prevented by the limits of the occasion from entering upon any of 
these subjects. 

4. In the last place, it is to be observed, that in aid of all the instruction and 
exercises Mithin the limits of the Normal School, properly so called, there is to 
be established a common or district school, as a school of practice, in which, 
under the direction of the principal of the Normal School, the young teacher 
may have the benefit of actual exercise in the business of instruction. This, of 
course, is a very interesting portion of the system ; but I am obliged to dismiss 
it with this simple mention. 

Such then, briefly, are the nature and objects of a Normal School, and such 
the manner in which it proposes to qualify teachers. We do not expect that it 
A?ill work miracles ; we shall be satisfied if it does good ; and of this only we 
feel a reasonable degree of confidence, that no young man or young woman 
can pass even three months in the institution without leaving it better qualified 
for the business of instruction. We trust the result will be such as eventually 
to contribute to the improvement of our schools. We have spared no pains, 
with the means at our command, to secure in advance the confidence of an en- 
lightened public. The talent, the services, and the distinguished character of 
the gentlemen to whom the schools already founded have been intrusted, are a 
pledge to the commimity of what may be expected from their labors in tliis 
cause. Among the fundamental principles laid down by the Board of Educa- 
tion for the government of the Normal Schools, it has been provided that a por- 
tion of Scripture shall be daily read ; and it is their devout hope that a fervent 
spirit of prayer, pervading the heart of both principal and pupils, may draw 
down the Divine blessing on their pursuits. 

I can not forbear, sir,* to express to you, on this occasion, the deep sense 
which is felt by the Board of Education of the importance of the trust wltich 
they have confided to your hands. I have the pleasure to assure you, that all 
their proceedings in reference to the school, and your own connection with it, 
have been entirely imanimous, and that a large measure of confidence is re- 
posed both in your ability and disposition to fulfil their expectations. The re- 
putation which you bring to this place, acquired by a long course of faithful 
labor in a highly responsible station elsewhere, (Bowdoin College,) is a suffi- 
cient guaranty to the public of the services which may be expected from you 
in this new and untried position. On you and the highly respected principal of 
the Normal School at Lexington, (Mr. Cyrus Pierce,) it will depend at present, 
in no small degree, whether institutions of this description shall win the public 
favor, and be incorporated into our system of common school education. We 
are sensible of the deep responsibility which this consideration devolves upon 
you, and shall, at all times, extend to you, to the utmost of our power, the support 
and encouragement you may need. Should this effort succeed to improve our 
schools by the increased qualifications of our teachers, you will have the satis- 
faction of being the first in our country to engage in an enterprise of the most 
eminent usefulness. Ages may pass away before an opportunity will present 
itself of working greater good than will be effected by those in this generation, 
who shall lay the foundations of decided improvements in popular education. 
We commend you, sir, to the support of this enlightened community, and the 
care of a watchful Providence. 

To you, my young friends of either sex, who have entered yourselves as 
pupils of the Normal School, we would say that the eyes of the friends of edu- 
cation, in all parts of the commonwealth, will be anxiously fixed upon you, and 
those who, with you, may be among the first to take advantage of the means of 
improvement which this institution affords. You are about to prepare your- 
selves, under great advantages, for the important office of instruction. This 

* Professor S. P. Newman. 



158 GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. 

momentous trust, which hitherto, almost without exception, in this country, has 
been assumed without specific preparation, will be approached by you, after 
having had its principles carefully unfolded to you, with some opportunity of 
putting them to practice, in the model school, which will form a part of ihe in- 
stitution. When you shall engage in the business of instruction, the community 
will reasonably expect of you that you should exhibit unusual fitness for the 
work. Let this thought engage you to enter upon your studies with redoubled 
zeal. A failure on your part to meet the public expectation, will have an inju- 
rious etTect, for some time, on this attempt to improve the' qualifications of 
teachers, in institutions expressly devoted to that object. On the oiher hand, 
your spirit and devotion to the object you are pursuing, and your visible im- 
provement in the noble skill of aiding in the development of mind and the for- 
mation of character, while they will put you upon the path of acknowledged 
usefulness and prosperity, will contribute essentially to the permanent adoption 
of Normal Schools, as a part of the Massachusetts system of public education. 
May a higher motive than human approbation animate your conduct, and the 
Divine blessing crown your studies with success. 

Permit me, fellow-citizens and friends, in bringing this address to a close, to 
congratulate you on the establishment, in the bosom of this community, of an 
institution, destined, we trust, to be an instrument of great good. We place it 
under the protection of an intelligent public. Its organization is simple ; its 
action will be wholly free from parade and display ; its fruits, we trust, will be 
seen in raising the standard of common school education. This object, we 
confess, we regard as one of paramount importance, — second to no other not 
immediately connected with the spiritual concerns of man. If there be any 
persons to whom the words "common schools" and -'common school educa- 
tion" convey an idea of disparagement and insignificance, such persons are 
ignorant, not merely of the true character of our political system, but of the na- 
ture of man. I certainly intend nothing derogatory to our higher seminaries of 
education, in town or in country. They are recognized by the constitution of 
the state. It is made the duty of all magistrates to encourage and promote 
them, and they are justly strong in the public favor. But whether we consider 
the numbers who enjoy their benefit, the relative importance to the state of an 
entire well-educated population, and of the services of those who receive the 
advantages of an education at the higher seminaries, taken in connection with 
the fact that a liberal education may be had elsewhere, but that a common 
school education must be bad at home or not at all, no rational man, as it seems 
to me, can fail to perceive the superior importance of the common schools. 
They give the keys of knowledge to the mass of the people. The child learns 
more by his fourth year, than the philosopher at any subsequent period of his 
life ; he learns to affix an intelligible sign to every outward object and inward 
emotion, by a gentle impulse imparted from his lips to the air. In like manner, 
I think it may with truth be said, that the branches of knowledge taught in our 
common schools, when taught in a finished, masterly manner, — reading, in 
which I include the spelling of our language, — a firm, sightly, legible hand- 
writing, and the elemental rules of arithmetic, are of greater value than all the 
rest which is taught at school. I am far from saying that nothing else can be 
taught at our district schools; but the young person who brings these from 
school can himself, in his winter evenings, range over the entire field of useful 
knowledge. Our common schools are important in the same way as the com- 
mon air, the common sunshine, the common rain, invaluable for their common- 
ness. They are the corner-stone of that municipal organization which is the 
characteristic feature of our social system ; they are the fountain of that wide- 
spread intelligence, which, like a moral life, pervades the country ; they are the 
nursery of that inquiring spirit to which we are indebted for the preservation of 
the blessings of an inquiring, Protestant, spiritual faith. Established as they 
were by special legislation in the infancy of the colony, while they are kept up 
and supported with a liberality corresponding with the growth of the country, 
no serious evil can befall us. Whatsoever other calamities, external or internal, 
may overtake us, while the schools are supported, they will furnish a perennial 
principle of restoration. With her three thousand district schools, supported at 
the public expense, nothing but the irreversible decree of Omnipotence can 
bring the beaming forehead of Massachusetts to the dust. Vicissitudes may 
blight the foliage, but there will be vigor in the trunk, and life at the root. 



GOV. EVERETT'S ADDRESS AT BARRE. igg 

Talent will constantly spring up on her barren hill-sides, and in her secluded 
vales, and find an avenue, through her schools, to the broad theatre of life, 
where great affairs are conducted by able men. Other states may exceed her 
in fertility of soil, but the skillful labor of her free citizens will clothe her plains 
with plenty. Other states may greatly outnumber her, but her ingenuity will 
people her shady glens and babbling waterfalls with half-reasoning engines, 
which will accomplish the work of toiling myriads. Other states will far sur-* 
pass her in geographical domain ; but the government of cultivated mind is as 
boundless as the universe. Wheresoever on the surface of the globe, and in the 
long line of coming ages, there is a reasonable being, there is a legitimate sub- 
iect of mental influence. From the humblest village school, there may go forth 
a teacher who, like Newton, shall bind his temples with the stars of .Orion's 
belt, — with Herschel, light up his cell with the beams of belbre undiscovered 
planets, — with Franklin, grasp the lightning. Columbus, fortified with a few 
sound geographical principles, was, on the deck of his crazy caravel, more truly 
the monarch of Castile and Arragon, than Ferdinand and Isabella, enthroned 
beneath the golden vaults of the conquered Alhambra. And Robinson, with 
the simple training of a rural pastor in England, when he knelt on the shore of 
Delft Haven, and sent his little flock upon their gospel errantry beyond the 
world of waters, exercised an influence over the destinies of the civilized world 
which will last to the end of time. 



REMAEKS 

AT THE DEDICATION OF THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL-HOUSE 
AT BRIDGEWATER. 

Augzi^t 19, 1846. 



The completion of a new edifice to accommodate the State Normal 
School at Bridgewater was signalized by appropriate exercises, on the 19th 
of August, 1846. Addresses were made during the day by His Excellency, 
Governor Briggs, Hon. William G. Bates, of Westfield, Amasa Walker, Esq., 
of Brookfield, at the church, and in the new school-room. After these 
addresses the company partook of a collation in the Town Hall, on which 
occasion the health of the Secretary of the Board of Education was given 
by the president of the day, and received by the company with enthusiastic 
applause. To this sentiment Mr. Mann responded as follows, as reported 
in the Boston Mercantile Journal. 

Mr. President : Among all the lights and shado-ws that have ever crossed my 
path, this day's radiance is the brightest. Two years ago, I would have been 
willing to compromise for ten years' work, as hard as any I had ever performed, 
to have been insured that, at the end of that period, I should see what our eyes 
this day behold. We now witness the completion of a new and beautiful Nor- 
mal School-house for the State N"ormal School at Bridgewater. One fortnight 
from to-morrow, another house, as beautiful as this, is to be dedicated at West- 
field, for the State Normal School at that place. West Newton was already 
provided for by private munificence. Each Normal School then will occupy a 
house, neat, commodious, and well adapted to its wants; and the Principals of 
the schools will be relieved from the annoyance of keeping a Normal School m 
an aJ-Normal house. 

I shall not even advert to the painful causes which have hastened this most 
desirable consummation, — since what was meant for evil has resulted m so much 
good. Let me, however, say to you, as the moral of this result, that it strengthens 
in my own mind what I have always felt ; and I hope it will strengthen, or cre- 
ate, in aU your minds, a repugnance to that sickly and cowardly sentiment of the 
poet, which made him long 

" For a lodge in some vast wilderness. 
Some boundless contiguity of sbade, 
Where rumor of oppression and deceit, 
Of unsuccessful or successful wars. 
Might never reach him more." 

There is oppression in the world which almost crushes the life out of humanity. 
There is deceit, which not only ensnares the unwary, but almost abolishes the 
security, and confidence, and dehght, wliich rational and social beings ought to 
enjoy in theu* intercourse with each other. There are wai"s, and the question 
whether they are right or wrong tortures the good man a thousand times more 
than any successes or defeats of either belligerent. But the feehng which springs 
up spontaneously in my nimd, and which I hope springs up spontaneously in 
your minds, my friends, in view of the errors, and calamities, and iniquities of 
the race, is, not to flee from the Avorld, but to remain in it ; not to hie away to 
forest sohtudes or hermit cells, but to confront selfishness, and wickedness, and 
ignorance, at whatever personal peril, and to subdue and extirpate them, or to die 
in the attempt. Had it not been for a feeling hke this among your friends, and 
the friends of the sacred cause of education in which you have enhsted, you well 
know that the Normal Schools of Massachusetts would have been put down, and 
that tills day never would have shone to gladden our liearts and to reward our 

K 



IQ2 *tR- MANN'S REMARKS AT BRIDGE WATER. 

toils and sacrifices. Let no man who knows not what has been suffered, what 
has been borne and forborne, to bring to pass the present event, accuse me of an. 
extravagance of joy. 

Mr. President, I consider this event as marking an era in the progress of edu- 
cation, — which, as we all know, is the progress of civilization, — on this western 
continent and throughout the world. It is the completion of the first Normal 
School-house ever erected in Massachusetts, — in the Union, — in this hemisphere. 
It belongs to that class of events which may happen once, but are incapable of 
being repeated. 

I believe Normal Schools to be a new instrumentahty in the advancement of 
the race. I behave that, without them. Free Schools themselves would be 
shorn of their strength and theh healing power, and wotdd at length become 
mere charity schools, and thus die out in fact and in form. Neither the art of 
printing, nor the trial by jury, nor a free press, nor free suffrage, can long exist, 
to any beneficial and salutary purpose, without schools for the training of teach- 
ers ; for, if the character and qualifications of teachers be allowed to degenerate, 
the Free Schools will become pauper schools, and the pauper schools will pro- 
duce pauper souls, and the free press will become a false and licentious press, 
and ignorant voters will become venal voters, and thi'ough the medium and 
guise of republican forms, an oligarchy of profligate and flagitious men will gov- ' 
ern the land ; nay, the universal diffusion and ultimate triumph of all-glorious 
Christianity itself must await the tune when knowledge shaU. be diffused among 
men through the instrumentality of good schools. Coiled up in this institution^ 
as in a spring, there is a vigor whose uncoiling may wheel the spheres. 

But this occasion brings to mind the past history of these schools, not less than 
it awakens our hopes and convinces our judgment respecting their future success. 

I hold, sir, in my hand, a paper, which contains the origin, the source, the 
punctum saliens, of the Normal Schools of Massachusetts. [Here Mr. Mann read 
a note from the Hon. Edmund Dwight, dated March 10th, 1838, authorizmg him, 
Mr. Mann, to say to the Legislature, that the siim of ten thousand dollars would 
be given by an individual for the prej)aratioa of teachers of Common Schools, 
provided the Legislature would give an equal sum. The reading was received 
with great applause.] 

It will be observed, resumed Mr. Mann, that this note refers to a conversation 
held on the evening previous to its date. The time, the spot, the words of that 
conversation can never be erased from my soul. This day, triumphant over the 
past, ausi^icious for the future, then rose to my sight. By the auroral hght of 
hope, I saw company after company go forth from the bosom of these institutions, 
Uke angel ministers, to spread abroad, over waste spiritual reahns, the power of 
knowledge and the dehghts of virtue. Thank God, the enemies who have since 
I'isen up to oppose and malign us, did not cast then* hideous shadows across that 
beautiful scene. 

The proposition made to the Legislature was accepted, almost without oppo- 
sition, in both branches; and on the tliird day of July, 1839, the first Normal 
School, consisting of only three pupils, was opened at Lexington, under the care 
of a gentleman who now sits before me, — Mr. Cyi'us Pierce, of Nantucket, — then 
of island, but now of continental fame. 

[This called forth' gi-eat cheeviug, and Mr. Mann said he should sit down to give Mr. Pierce an 
oppoj'tunity to respond. Mr. Pierce arose under great embarrassment; starting at the sound of 
his name, and half doubting whether the eloquent Secretary had not intended to name some 
other person. He soon recovered, however, and in a very happy maimer extricated himself from 
the " fix" in which the Secretary had placed him. He spoke of his children, the pupils of the 
first Normal School, and of the honorable competition which ought to exist between the several 
schools ; and to the surprise, as well as regret, of all who heard him, he spoke of being admon- 
ished by infirmities which he could not mistake, that it was time for him to retire from the pro- 
fession. The audience felt as if, for once in his life, this excellent teacher had threatened to do 
wrong. He then told an amusing anecdote of a professor who retained his olBce too long, and 

was toasted by the students in the words of Dr. Watts,—" The Rev. Dr. , Hush, my babe, 

lie still and slumber." And then he sat down amidst the sincere plaudits of the company, who 
seemed to think he was not " so plaguy old" as he wished to appear.] 

I say, said Mr. Mann, on resuming, that, though the average number of Mr. 
Pierce's school is now from sixty to eighty ; and though this school, at the pres- 
ent term, consists of one hundred pupUs, yet the first term of the first scliool 
opened with three pupils only. The truth is, though it may seem a paradox to 



MR. MANN'S REMARKS AT BRIDGEWATER. Ig3 

jgay so, the Norman Schools had to come to prepare a way for themselves, and to 
show, by practical demonstration, what they were able to accomplish. Like 
Chi'istianity itself, had they waited till the world at large called for them, or was 
ready to receive them, they would never have come. 

In September, 1839, two other Normal Schools were established : one at Barre, 
in the county of Worcester, since removed to "Westfield, in the county of Hamp- 
den ; and the other at this place, whose only removal has been a constant mov- 
ing onward' and upward, to higher and higher degrees of prosperity and use- 
fulness. 

In tracing down the history of these schools to the present time, I prefer to 
bring into view, rather the agencies that have helped, than the obstacles which 
have opposed them. 

I say, then, that I believe Massachusetts to have been the only State in the 
Union where Normal Schools could have been established ; or where, if estab- 
lished, they would have been allowed to continue. At the time they were 
established, five or six thousand teachers were annually engaged in our Common 
Schools ; and probably nearly as many more were looking forward to the same 
occupation. These incumbents and expectants, together with their families and 
circles of relatives and acquaintances, would probably have constituted the 
greater portion of active influence on school affairs in the State ; and had they, 
as a body, yielded to the invidious appeals that were made to them by a few 
agents and emissaries of evil, they might have extinguished the Normal Schools, 
as a whirlwind puts out a taper. I honor the great body of Common School 
teachers in Massachusetts for the magnanimity they have displayed on this sub- 
ject. I know that many of them have said, almost in so many words, and, what 
is nobler, they have acted as they have said : — " We are conscious of our defi- 
ciencies ; we are grateful for any means that will supply them, — nay, we are 
ready to retire from our places when better teachers can be found to fill them. 
We derive, it is true, om- daily bread from school-keeping, but it is better that 
our bodies should be pinched with hunger than that the souls of children should 
staiwe for want of mental nourishment ; and we should be unworthy of the husks 
which the swine do eat, if we could prefer om- own emolument or comfort to the 
intellectual and moral cultm'e of the rising generation. We give you om- hand 
and our heart for the glorious work of improving the schools of Massachusetts, 
Avhile we scorn tlie baseness of the men who woidd appeal to our love of gain, 
or of ease, to seduce us from the path of duty." This statement does no more 
than justice to the noble conduct of the great body of teachers in Massachusetts. 
To be sure, there always have been some who have opposed the Normal Schools, 
and who wUl, probably, continue to oppose them as long as they live, lest they 
themselves should be superseded by a class of competent teachers. These are 
they who would arrest education wliere it is ; because they cannot keep up with 
it, or overtake it m its onward progress. But the wheels of education are rolling 
on, and they who wiD. not go with them must go under them. 

The Normal Schools were supposed by some to stand in an antagonistic rela- 
tion to academies and select schools ; and some teachers of academies and select 
schools have opposed them. They declare that they can make as good teachers 
as Normal Schools can. But, sh, academies and select schools have existed in 
this State, in great numbers, for more than half a century. A generation of 
school-teachers does not last, at the extent, more than three or four years ; so 
that a dozen generations of teachers have passed thi-ough our PubUc Schools 
within the last fifty years. Now, if the academies and high schools can supply 
an adequate number of school-teachers, why have they not done it ? We have 
waited half a century for them. Let them not complain of us, because we are 
unw illin g to wait half a century more. Academies are good in their place ; 
colleges are good in their place. Both have done invaluable service to the cause 
of education. The standard of intelligence is vastly higher now than it would 
have been without their aid ; but they have not provided a sufficiency of com- 
petent teachers ; and if they perform their appropriate duties hereafter, as they 
have done heretofore, they cannot supply them ; and I cannot forbear, Mr. Presi- 
dent, to express my firm conviction, that if the work is to be left in their hands, 
we never can have a supply of competent teachers for our Common Schools, 
without a perpetual Pentecost of miraculous endowments. 



2g4 MR. MANN'S REMARKS AT BRIDGEWATER, 

But if any teacher of an academy had a right to be jealous of the Normal 
Schools, it was a gentleman now before me, who, at the time when the Bridge- 
v/ater Normal School came into his town, and planted itself by the path which 
led to his door, and offered to teach gratuitously such of the young men and 
women attending his school, as had proposed to become teachers of Common 
Schools, instead of opposing it, acted with a high and magnanimous regard to 
the great interests of humanity. So far from opposing, he gave his voice, his 
vote, and his purse, for the establishment of the school, whose benefits, you, my 
young friends, have since enjoyed. (Great applause.) Don't applaud yet, said 
Mr. Mann, for I have better things to tell of him than this. In the winter ses- 
sion of the Legislatm-e of 1840, it is well known that a powerful attack was 
made, in the House of Representatives, upon the Board of Education, the Nor- 
mal Schools, and all the improvements wliich had then been commenced, and 
Avhich have since produced such beneficent and abundant fruits. It was pro- 
posed to abolish the Board of Education, and to go back to the condition of things 
in 1837. It was proposed to abolish the Normal Schools, and to throw back with 
indignity, into the hands of Mr. Dwight, the money he had given for their support. 

That attack combined all the elements of opposition which selfishness and 
intolerance had created, — whether latent or patent. It availed itself of the 
argument of expense. It appealed invidiously to the pride of teachers. It 
menaced Prussian despotism as the natural consequence of imitating Prussia in 
preparing teachers for schools. It fomented political partisanship. It mvoked 
religious bigotry. It united them all into one phalanx, animated by various 
motives, but intent upon a single object. The gentleman to whom I have re- 
ferred was then a member of the House of Representatives, and Chairman of the 
Committee on Education, and he, in company with Mi*. Thomas A. Greene, of 
New Bedford, made a minority report, and during the debate which followed, 
he defended the Board of Education so ably, and vindicated the necessity of 
Normal Schools and other improvements so convincingly, that their adversaries 
were foiled, and these institutions were saved. The gentleman to whom I refer 
is the Hon. John A. Shaw, now Superintendent of schools in New Orleans. 

[Prolonged cheers ; — and the pause made by Mr. Mann, aflforded an opportunity to Mr. Shaw, 
in his modest and unpretending manner, to disclaim the active and efficient agency which he hiid 
had in rescuing the Normal Schools from destruction before they had had an opportunity to 
commend themselves to the public by their works; — but all this only increased the animation of 
the company, who appeared never before to have had a chance to pay off any portion of their 
debt of gratitude. After silence was restored, Mr. Shaw said that every passing year enforced 
upon him the lesson of the importance and value of experience in school-keeping. Long as he 
had taught, he felt himself improved by the teachings of observation and practice ; and he must 
therefore express his joy and gratitude at the establishment and the prosperity of the school at 
that place, whatever might be the personal consequences to himself.] 

Nor, continued Mr. Mann, is this the only instance of noble and generous con- 
duct which we are bound tliis day to acknowledge. I see before me a gentle- 
man who, though occupying a station in the educational world far above any of 
the calamities or the vicissitudes that can befall the Common Schools, — though, 
pecuniarily considered, it is a matter of entire indifference to him whether the 
Common Schools flourish or decline, — yet, from the beginning, and especially in 
the crisis to which I have just adverted, came to our rescue, and gave all his 
influence, as a citizen and as a teacher, to the promotion of our cause ; and whom 
those who may resort hither, from year to year, so long as this building shall 
stand, will have occasion to remember, not only with warm emotions of the 
heart, but, during the wintry season of the year, with warm sensations of the 
body also.* I refer to Mr. Geo. B. Emerson. 

[Mr. Emerson was now warmly cheered, until he rose, and in a heartfelt address of a few mo- 
ments, expressed his interest in the school, and in the cause of education, which he begged the 
young teachers not to consider as limited to this imperfect stage of our being.] 

These, said Mr. Mann, are some of the incidents of our early history. The late 
events which have resulted in the generous donations of individuals, and in the 
patronage of the Legislature, for the erection of tliis, and another edifice at West- 
field, ae a residence and a home for the Normal Schools, — these events, I shall 

* Mr. Emerson has furnished, at his own expense, the furnace by which the new school-house 
is lo be warmed. 



MR. MANN'S REMARKS AT BRIDGEWATER. 



165 



consult my own feelings, and perhaps I may add, the dignity and forbearance 
which belong to a day of triumph, in passing by without remark. 

[This pai-t of the history, however, was not allowed to be lost. As soon as the Secretary had 
taken his seat, the Rev. Mr. Waterston, who had been instrumental in getting up the subscrip- 
tion to erect the two school-houses, arose, and eloquently completed the history. He stated, in 
brief, that the idea of providing suitable buildings for the Normal Schools originated ynth some 
thirty or forty friends of popular education, who, without distinction of sect or party, had met, in 
Boston, in the winter of 1844-5, to express their sympathy with Mr. Mann in the vexatious con- 
flict which he had so successfully mamtained ; and who desired, in some suitable way, to express 
their approbation of his course in the conduct of the great and difficult work of reforming our 
Ck)mmon Schools. At this meeting, it was at first proposed to bestow upon Mr. Mann some 
token evincive of the personal and public regard of its members ; but, at a subsequent meeting, 
it was suggested that it would be far more grateful and acceptable to him to furnish some sub- 
stantial and efiicient aid in carrying forward the great work in which he had engaged, and in 
removing those obstacles and hinderances both to his own success and to the progress of the 
cause, which nothing but an expenditure of money could effect. No way seemed so well 
adapted to this purpose as the placing of the Normal Schools upon a firm and lasting basis, by 
fm-nishing them with suitable and permanent buildings; and the persons present thereupon 
pledged themselves to furnish $5000, and to ask the Legislatiu'e to furnish a like sum for this im- 
portant pui-pose. The grant was cheerfully made by the Legislature, whose good-will has since 
been further expressed by a liberal grant, to meet the expenses of those temporary Normal 
Schools, called Teachers' Institutes. Mr. Mann, who had not yet taken his seat, then continued 
as follows :] 

I have, my young friends, former and present pupUs of the school, but a single 
word more to say to you on this occasion. It is a word of caution and admoni- 
tion. You have enjoyed, or are enjoying, advantages superior to most of those 
engaged in our Common Schools. Never pride yourselves upon these advan- 
tages. Think of them often, but always as motives to greater diligence and 
exertion, not as points of superiority. As you go forth, after having enjoyed the 
bounty of the State, you will probably be subjected to a rigid examination. 
Submit to it without complaint. More will sometimes be demanded of you than 
is reasonable. Bear it meekly, and exhaust yom- time and strength in perform- 
ing your duties, rather than in vindicating yom- rights. Be silent, even when 
you are misrepresented. Tm-n aside when opposed, rather than confront oppo- 
sition with resistance. Bear and forbear, not defending yourselves, so much as 
trusting to your works to defend you. Yet, in counseling you thus, I would not 
be understood to be a total non-resistant, — a perfectly passive, non-elastic sand- 
bag, in society ; but I would not have you resist until the blow be aimed, not so 
^much at you, as, through you, at the sacred cause of human improvement, in 
wliich you are engaged, — a point at which forbearance would be alhed to crime. 
To the young ladies who are here — teachers and those who are preparing 
themselves to become teachers, — I would say, that, if there be any human being 
whom I ever envied, it is they. As I have seen them go, day after day, and 
month after mouth, with inexhaustible cheerfulness and gentleness, to their ob- 
scure, unobserved, and I might almost say, unrequited labors, I have thought 
that I would rather fill their place, than be one in the proudest triumphal pro- 
cession that ever received the acclamations of a city, though I myself were the 
crowned victor of the ceremonies. May heaven forgive them for the only sin 
which, as I hope, they ever commit, — that of tempting me to break the com- 
mandment, by coveting the blissfulness and purity of their quiet and secluded 
virtues. 



ADDRESS 

AT TBB 

DEDICATION OF THE BRIDGEWATER STATE NORMAL SCHOOL-HOUSE, 

BY M^ILLIAM G. BATES, 

August IQtJi, 1846. 



Gentlemen of the Board of Education, Teachers, and Friends : 

The sagacious enactment of the Legislature of 1845, and the enlightened lib- 
erality of philanthropic individuals, placed at the disposal of the Board of Edu- 
cation the means of erecting two edifices for the accommodation of the State 
Normal Schools. One of those edifices is now completed ; and this day it is to 
be set apart to the uses for which it was designed. The occasion has been deemed 
one of sufficient importance to justify a public and joyful commemoration ; and, 
at the request of the other members of the Board, and by their appointment, 
I appear before you, to bear a part in the performances of the day. We 
have assembled, then, to dedicate a school-house ! The executive authority of 
this ancient Commonwealth, the Board of Education, the wise and the learned 
from the different sections of the State, and the friends of progressive improve- 
ment in the cause of education, without regard to conventional lines or state 
boundaries, have convened to rejoice in the dedication of a building which hence- 
forth is to be appropriated to the education of those who are to instruct the 
children of the State in the rudiments of learning. 

" Is not this," methinks I hear an objector exclaim, " a trivial matter ? Are 
there not other and more appropriate occasions of rejoicing ? Are there not 
bright days in our national calendai*, events in our history, to fire the soul of song, 
and to swell the anthem of joy ? Have you no voice of praise for that recent 
consummation wliich has extended our institutions, in peaceful perpetuity, to the 
distant shores of the Pacific ? Give over, then, this inapposite attempt to dig- 
nify so unimportant an event as that which has called us together this day." 

Every nation has its own, its pecuKar days of rejoicing. The buth of a prince, 
the accession of a king, the yielding up of a charter, the overtlii-ow of a dynasty, 
have swelled the hearts of many an oppressed and suffering people. Our own 
country has even nobler themes than these. But, if it be the object of social lifie 
to increase our pleasures here ; if the cultivation of our moral powers is to minis- 
ter to om- enjoyments hereafter ; if the aim of political institutions is to secure to 
a people the inalienable rights of life, hberty, and the pm'suit of happiness, there 
can be no more heart-cheering vision than to behold a rich and powerful State 
solemnly pledging its wealth and its energies to the promotion of a cause upon 
which all these interests depend. Indeed, of all the events in our historic annals 
of which orators have discoursed and poets have sung, there is not one, worthy 
of a lasting commemoration, which is not intimately connected with the cause 
which has convened us to-day. Take, for example, that ever-memorable event, 
which stands out in our history as the brightest and the noblest, since the great 
triumph of Columbus, and ask yourselves why we celebrate the anniversary of 
the landing of the Pilgrims. Is it that a few adventurers succeeded in establish- 
ing a colony which has been ripened, by subsequent wisdom, into this great empire ? 
that, driven by persecution from their native land, they fled to the soUtude of a 
new continent, and converted a refuge from present distress into an asylum for the 
oppressed of every clime ? The feelings which animated them were nobler than 
these, and their plans more enduring. They came hither to found a State ! All 
their desires and their energies tended to this one object. Danger could not appaJ, 
suffering could not deter them from its pursuit. When they left the harbor of 
DeKt-haven, and while their frail bark staggered under the fearful billows, their 
breasts were laboring for the development of those great principles of govern- 
ment which were destined to win for them the gratitude of a world. When 
they landed upon the rock of Plymouth, they stood upon the territory of a civ- 



168 



DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRIDGEWATER. 



ilized state ; and the sun which woke the fii-st morning of their occupancy, shone 
upon a regularly organized government. 

ISTor, amid the gloom which enshrouded them, and the dangers which threat- 
ened to ingulf their infant colony, did they falter in the designs wliich had their 
birth in suffering. Havmg elicited the great principle of the capability of man 
for the duties of self-government, they set forth, at once, to provide the means 
of demonstrating that capability ; and, in the midst of a mighty struggle for the 
very existence of their colony, they provided by enactment, witliin the first 
quarter of a century of its existence, for the futiu-e education of its children. 

The first provision for public instruction in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, 
was passed in the year 1642. Five years after, in 164*7, another act was passed, 
securing, still more effectually, the education of the young; but in the year 1692, 
just two centuries after the discovery of this continent, the means of diffusing 
the light of learning and rehgion, not only throughout that continent, but through- 
out the world, were provided in the enactments of the Pilgrim Fathers.* Other 
patriots and other sages, before them, had labored earnestly for the dissemina- 
tion of intelligence— and, in the early ages, some of them had fallen martyrs to 
their zeal in this noblest cause— but it was reserved for " the Fathers " to in- 
graft that great principle on the laws of a country, as a maxim of government, 
that all the people of a State should he educated by the State. 

This provision is entitled " An Act for the settlement and support of ministers 
and schoolmasters." " The Fathers " evidently considered Learning to be the 
handmaid of Religion, and whUe, in the law, they provided for the former, by 
making it the duty of the magistracy to supply any want of the stated means 
of grace by the appointment of a suitable pastor at the expense of the neglect- 
ful town, they secm'ed the promotion of learning by heavy penalties for each 
case of neglect. 

But then, as now, there were enlightened men whose zeal and intelligence 
were m advance of their age. The act of lY01,f after reciting the former act, 
proceeds as follows : " The observance of wliich wholesome and necessary law is 
shamefully neglected by divers towns, and the penalty thereof not required, 
tending greatly to the nourishment of ignorance and irreligion, whereof grievous 
complaint is made." It then provides for the redress of these evUs, and enacts 
that the penalties for future neglect shall be doubled ; that every grammar- 
master shall be approved by the minister of the town and the ministers of two 
adjoining towns, or any two of them ; that no minister of any to,wn shall perform 
such services, as a teacher, as to discharge the town from the performance of its 
duties under the act ; and that justices of the peace, and all grand-jurors, shall 
diligently inquire and true presentment make of all breaches and neglect of the 
same, that due prosecution may be made against the offenders. 

Nor were they more zealous in providing the means of instruction for the rising 
generation, than they were solicitous as to the characters of the teachers ; and 
their wisdom, in this respect, far transcends the legislation of modern days. We 
provide, in reference to our security in the quahfication of teachers, that they 
shall be examined by a competent board of judges, and, if not found to be quali- 
fied, why, then, that their employers shall be under no obligation to pay them 
for their services. Under the operation of tliis law, a grossly incompetent teacher, 
who has been rejected for the want of proper moral or literary qualifications, 
may form the minds and morals of om- children, according to his own standard 
of character ; and yet, if his employers are so inclined, he may receive a reward 
for his work of evil. But even this safeguard applies only to the public schools. 
In our academies, and in the numerous private schools with which, unfortunately, 
cm- country abounds, there is no legal check ujDon the injury which a bad man 
may work upon the minds and hearts of those who, by misjudging parents, may 
be committed to his charge. No matter how much he may lack in intelligence 
or in morals ; no matter how positively depraved he may be in his sentiments or 
in his conduct ; he is, nevertheless, a teacher under the law, or rather in spite of 
the law, and may exert a most deleterious influence upon the minds of those 
whose education should be under its especial guardianship. 

Not such were the views of those wise men who have transmitted to us that 

* Province Laws, c. XIII. p. 245. t Province Laws, c. LXXXIL p. 37L 



DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRIDGE WATER. JQ9 

glorious system, under the operation of which the liitherto discordant elements 
of government have moved on in imbroken harmony. They considered the 
teacher as the former of the man ; and that, to secure a virtuous and an intelli- 
gent community, it "was necessary, not only to provide the means of good instruc- 
tion, but to guard against the influences of bad. Their opinions on this subject 
"were fully and forcibly expressed in the act of I'? 12, "whicli is kno"wn as the 
" Reformation Act."* Its preamble recites, that, " forasmuch as the "well edu- 
cating and instructing of children and youth, m families and schools, are a neces- 
sary means to propagate religion and good manners, and the conversation and 
examjole of heads of famihes and schools having great influence on those under 
their care and government, to an imitation thereof," no person " shall presume to 
set up or keep a school," "without the allo"wance and approbation of the proper 
authority ; and, the Ia"w continues, if any person " shall be so hardy" as to ofi^end 
against its provisions, he shall forfeit a heavy penalty, to be inflicted as long as 
bis school shall continue, and as often as he may be prosecuted therefor. 

Such "were the vie"ws and feelings of the Pilgrims. Such "were the objects at 
which they aimed, and the means by "wliich those objects "were sought to be ac- 
complished. And "when "we consider the "wise adaptation of the means to the 
end, when "we contemplate the sure and rapid progress "which has marked our 
course as a nation, the more sure, and the more rapid, accordingly as "we have 
adhered to and maintained those principles "wliich tJiey established — Avho shall 
say that the first vision of a free and an independent republic did not break upon 
their sight, "while they "were tossing upon the ocean in the cabin of the May 
Flower ? 

If we are correct in the opinion which has been incidentally expressed, and 
which has obtained a general credence throughout the world, that the secm-ity 
of om- free institutions depends upon the enactment of the provisions for the uni- 
versal education of the people, at the expense of the State, it surely cannot be 
inappropriate to the present occasion, nor can the occasion itself be trifling and 
unimportant, which leads us to consider the manner in which that provision affects 
the people in relation to our government. If the consideration subserves no 
other purpose than to renew om* recollections of those whose stout hands and 
whose stouter hearts provided for us this goodly land, it is, at least, but a fitting 
tribute paid at the call of gratitude. But the consideration may produce a more 
useful result ; and, as Old Mortality, among the tombs of the Covenanters, " con- 
sidered himself as fulfilling a sacred duty, while renewing to tlie eyes of posterity 
the decaying emblems of the zeal and sufi^erings of their forefathers, and thereby 
trimming, as it were, the beacon-light which was to warn future generations to 
defend their religion even unto blood," so we, in the contemplation of this noblest 
of the monuments of the Pilgrims, may be led to emulate them in their zeal, to 
catch the fire of their devotion, and to resolve to hand down to future ages this 
splendid memorial of theu- undying fame. 

The country from which the Pilgrims fled is a monarchy. In it the three 
essential modifications of government are arranged with so nice an adaptation to 
the liberty of the subject, as to make the British constitution the wonder of the 
world. There, is the freedom of the press ! There, is the trial by jury ! There, 
every man's property is secured to him under the provisions of the law, and 
every man's house is his castle. There, the path to Avealth is open to every 
traveler, and honors and rewards are ready to be showered upon the successful 
and the deserving. How sedulously they labor to promote their national pros- 
perity ! And, to secure that object, how carefully they watch over the welfare 
of those who may become their monarchs ! The birth of a royal infant is an- 
noimced as a subject of national congratulation, and the announcement is hailed 
with a response of national enthusiasm. The most experienced and celebrated 
physicians watch over even its healthful hours, and ladies of ranlv and fortune 
are proud to be its nm-ses. Learning waits upon and calls forth the development 
of its intellect, and science strengthens its powers by well-adapted and judicious 
exercise. Learned treatises and controversial publications discuss the means for 
the cultivation of all its faculties, and the whole nation watches for its progress 
with more than a parental anxiety. And why ? Because this infant may be a 

* Province Laws, c. CV. p. 398. 



lYO DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRIDGEWATER. 

component part of their own government ; and they know how much the happi- 
ness and welfare of a people depend upon the virtue and intelligence of their 
rulers. 

Nor is their zeal for the blessings of a good government expended in their 
efforts for the education of the executive power only. Tlieir judicial and their 
legislative departments are equally the objects of their fostering care. Of their 
judiciary, it is sufficient to remark, that the exorbitant salaries of the office, and 
the pension which follows its resignation, have ever called the highest talent 
from the bar to the bench, and made the judges of England, from the earliest 
ages, the true expounders of the law and the pure ministers of justice. 

Of the Legislative branch, the House of Lords is composed principally of those 
who derive, from a long line of ancestry, the office of hereditary rulers of the 
realm. And, to guard against the deteriorations which inevitably follow the 
accident of birth, the most distinguished citizens of the nation are promoted to 
the peerage, to superadd to the distinctions of rank the dignity of intelligence. 

The remaining branch of the Legislature consists of that body of men which is 
designed to represent the great interests of the people. But so guarded is the 
election of the members of the House of Commons by the controlling powers of 
the crown and the peers, and the dictates of a cautious and wary policy, that the 
people of England depend, for then- immunities, rather upon the opinion of the 
higher estates of the realm, than upon the influence of their own voice in the 
national comicils. 

I refer to these principles of British legislation with no view to the consideration 
of their expediency and wisdom. I advert to them only to show with what 
solicitude they endeavor to guard against the irruptions of ignorance, and with 
what feelings they regard educational training, even in a monarchical govern- 
ment. 

If such is the policy of England, what should be that of the United States ! 
If such is the practice of a monarchy, what should be that of a republic ! If 
such are the feehngs of a people where, although the rights of man are secured, 
yet his interests are subordinate to the rights of property, what should be the 
feehngs of that people whose system of government recognizes man as the very 
organ of its action, and his interests as the choicest objects of its care ! 

When om" fathers fled from religious persecution, to seek the " pure shrine" 
of faith, they sought also the blessings of civil liberty. They rejected the long- 
cherished doctrine of usurped agency, and gave back to man liis heaven-born 
birthright. They repudiated the cumbrous machinery of a system which, wliile 
it protected liis rights, pressed like an incubus upon his interests, and they relied 
upon a scheme of self-government founded upon his intelligence and virtue. 
And, truly, it was the sublimest conception which ever broke upon the mind of 
a patriotic statesman. Conceive, if you can, of an intelligent people, " nm-sed up 
from brighter influences, with souls enlarged to the dimensions of spacious art 
and high knowledge," cognizant of their rights, governed by their duties, demand- 
mg nothing wrong, yielding ever to the right, just in all the relations of private 
life, and acting upon these principles m all their foreign mtercourse ; and where 
is the Utopia wliich is the abode of a more well-imagined happiness ? 

And yet, bright as the conception is, it is the home designed for us by our 
heroic fathers. It is no Oceana, it is no Utopia. The realization of this plan is 
in our own power ; and our approach to it will be proportionate to the ardor of 
our zeal and the warmth of our devotion. 

Have we been true to our obhgations in the performance of the duties which 
have been assigned to us to perform? Have we imitated even the zeal and the 
wisdom of a monarchy ? 

Who are om- rulers ? Are they those who claim a descent from a long line 
of illustrious ancestors ? Are they those who by their wealth clothe themselves 
with the right to rule ? Or are they those who purchase the offices of the State 
as in the most venal of the days of the Roman State ? 

Who are the persons, that, in this country, are to stand in the place of the 
monarch ? Every native-born male child in the Union is the heir-apparent to 
the throne of tliis great empire. Who are to compose our House of Lords ? 
Every citizen of the age of thirty years, who shall have resided within the 
United States for the space of nine years, is eligible to that exalted station. 



DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRffiGE WATER. j^l 

Who are to constitute that popular branch, which in England is denominated 
the House of Commons ? The age of twenty -five years, seven of wliich shall have 
been passed within the limits of the Union, is a legal qualification for the peo- 
ple's representative. These are the persons who, together with the judicial 
department, form the thi'ee constituent parts of the most complex government 
upon earth. These are the persons to whom are intrusted those powers which 
are guarded with so much care by the educational poHcy of a monarchy. 

And now, let us ask if we rival the wisdom of this policy ? Are the youth, 
the future presidents, and senators, and representatives of this country, thus 
cai'efully instructed in a knowledge of those duties wliich they will and must be 
called upon to perform ? Ai'e they trained, in their early years, according to 
the great laws of health, so as to produce " a sound mind in a sound body ?" 
Do the wise and the learned watch over and guide their intellectual progress, 
and imbue then- impressible minds with the love of virtue ? Or are they not, 
rather, suffered "to come up," like neglected plants, ignorant of the relations of 
civil Mfe, and unknowing of those important trusts which are to be committed to 
them ? Who can well estimate the vast responsibilities which rest upon the 
conduct of these rulers ! How fraught may be their conduct with good ; how 
pregnant with evil ! Their acts may destroy the balance of this well-adjusted 
confederacy, and array brother against brother in the strife of blood. Then- con- 
duct may embroil nation with nation, and convert our smiling fields into the 
G-olgothas of battle. Their decision may change the industrial character of the 
whole people, and turn tlu-ift into idleness, and plenteousness into famine. Their 
examples may exalt vice, debase virtue, and give respectabiUty and character 
even unto crime. And, on the other hand, powerful to good, and strong against 
evil, they can unseal the hidden springs of thek country's prosperity, and read 
the nation's gratitude in the nation's eyes. 

But let us advance more directly to what is suggested by the occasion, and 
contemplate this subject in its relation to our own State. Whatever may be the 
fate of the government of which it forms a component part, and whatever may 
be our feelings or our duties toward it, yet, in the Commonwealth of Massachu- 
setts, our first civil obligations were assumed, and in its cause shall our latest 
efforts be made. 

Like that of other States, the government of Massachusetts consists of three 
departments. The Legislative, consisting of our Senate and House of Represent- 
atives, enact those laws which are intended to secure our rights and promote 
our welfare. The judicial department declares what those laws are, and settles 
the conflicting rights of individuals under them. The Executive power cames 
into execution the will of the people, as thus expressed and declared. We have 
adopted, as a part of its system, the doctrine of universal suffrage ; and practi- 
cally, the avenues to office, as well the highest as the lowest, are open to every 
citizen. Such is the theory of the government of Massachusetts. Such is that 
system of laws and institutions, by which we prosper, and under which we live. 

No well-informed person will deny, not merely how important, but how indis- 
pensable is a government of laws to the prosperity of a people. But still, there 
are few who are aware of the extent of its influence, through all the relations 
and circumstances of life. Indeed, there are thousands whose whole knowledge 
of its effects is derived from the experience of others. They are not impleaded 
themselves, nor do they implead then- fellows. They are not charged with 
crime, and, of course, feel no alarm at its undirected terrors. They know that it 
is around them, with its invisible shield, and they inquire not whence it comes, 
or whither it goes. They regard it as they do the sun that warms, and the air 
which surrounds them. They know that the sun wiU shine, and that the atmos- 
phere will breathe around them the elements of life ; and they seem to consider 
that man, in his imperfect institutions, is to rival the wisdom and the beneficence 
of the Creator. When they walk abroad, they know that the arm of the law is 
over them, to protect them from peril. They visit, without fear, the most re- 
mote and sequestered scenes ; for they feel that it will restrain the hand of 
violence, and blunt the steel of the assassin. They repose in their habitations 
during the long hours of night ; for the law makes then* house their castle, and 
protects it, as well against secret mischief as open aggression. They consider, 
in short, that their property is protected by the nation's strength, and that 



jij2 DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRIDGE WATER. ' 

millions of bayonets are the sure guaranties for the preservation of their liber- 
ties. 

There are, however, moral influences, resulting from the operations of law, 
which are still more striking. How does it pervade the very spirit of society, 
and control the whole conduct of men in their daily intercouj'se ! How does it 
strengthen the sentiment of justice in their hearts, and induce them to do right, 
almost without voUtion ! How it extends even to the domestic relations — re- 
strains the excess of parental authority, and deepens the feelings of filial obe- 
dience ! How it binds the husband to the wife, in the most endearing relation, 
and renders more indissoluble those holy ties which are the unspeakable charm 
of social existence ! And when, at last, they feel that they are about to depart 
from those who are to live after them, and to leave them to live on, without 
their natural j^rotection, with what confidence do they turn from the trusts of 
interested men to the laws and institutions of their country ! 

And yet, these laws and mstitutions, with all the momentous interests which 
grow up and flourish under them, depend for their existence upon these three 
co-ordinate departments of the govermnent. They sprang forth, at fu-st, full- 
armed in wisdom, like Minerva from the brain of power, but they cannot, like 
her, rely upon a native-born immortality. They are the mere creations of legis- 
lative AviU, and the power which made them can again destroy. Look at the 
affluence wliich successful acquisition has concentrated in this, the richest of the 
States. It is held only by a lega;l tenure. The law can tax it ; the law can ap- 
propriate it ; and what shall protect it from the inroads of fraud, and the aggres- 
sions of violence, if the law were to withhold its protecting arm ? Our houses 
and our lands we hold, as we imagine, by the securest of all tenures ; but a 
single act of the Legislature of the State may destroy the muniments of our 
title, and our respective portions of " the great globe itself" may take to them- 
selves the light wings of the morning. 

It may, perhaps, be conceded that our rulers should be both virtuous and in- 
telligent, and yet that the same necessity does not exist for a virtuous and 
intelligent constituency. This supposition assumes that the principles of legisla- 
tion are so complex and mtricate, that the people are to choose others to do for 
them those governmental acts of which they cannot perceive the wisdom. Such 
a doctrine is upheld in other governments, in the other hemisphere ; but it is 
repudiated by the very principles of republicanism. As well might the legisla- 
tive power be delegated m perpetuity, as well might the offices of our rulers 
depend upon the accident of birth, as that the results of their authority should 
rest upon any other foundation than the consent and the approval of the people 
governed. We employ a physician, mdeed, to do for us what we are presumed 
to be unable to do for ourselves, and we submit ourselves, uuarguing, to his 
guidance. " What he wills, miargued, we obey." But in matters of legislation, 
however complicated, we are presumed to be the judges. We vote for a pubHc 
ofKcer because we know his opinions, and our vote, therefore, should be but the 
true expression of our own ; and we might, in ignorance of the healing art, as 
properly administer remedies to a diseased patient, as, m ignorance of political 
information, thrust our nostrums into the body politic. 

And who that has watched our legislative history does not know that the acts 
of our rulers are but the embodiment of the popular will ? Who does not know 
that no legislation can be permanent or useful which does not rest upon the sen- 
timent of an approving people ? The act may be wise in its inception and 
beneficent in its operation ; but it is the pubhc sentiment alone wliich can give 
it vitahty ; and unless the public mind can be made to perceive and approve its 
wisdom, it will slumber, as though it were useless, until another law shall abro- 
gate its provisions. 

But, if it were granted that ignorant and vicious men wiU choose wise and 
virtuous rulers ; that those who cannot perceive the wisdom of wise laws will 
yet acquiesce in their permanency ; in short, that a system of government founded 
upon the virtue and mtelligence of the people, and upheld by these conservative 
principles alone, has within itself that miraculous efficacy of winning to it the 
support of ignorance and vice — still, let me ask whether, in the choice of wise 
and virtuous rulers, we fulfill to the government all the duties of good citizens ? 

Let any one, who is inclined to give an affirmative answer, go into our courts 



DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRIDGEWATER. 273 

of justice, and see ho'W^ those rights of life, liberty, and property, -wliich the con- 
stitution upholds, depend as much upon their administration as upon the laws 
themselves ! How compUcated are the subjects which are presented at a judi- 
cial trial ! How strangely intermmgled are questions of fact with the principles 
of law ! How subtle and astute are the arguments of those who often make the 
worse appear the better reason ! How profoundly logical are the reasonings of 
the judge ! 

And then, too, how harassing are often the questions of evidence 1 The treach- 
erous memory, the mistaken apprehensions, the corrupt misstatements of wit- 
nesses, leave the truth in doubt. How adroitly the opposing counsel labor 
through a long and searching examination to unravel the web of eiTor and de- 
stroy the equipoise of a suspended judgment ! Now all these nice questions of 
fact, these applications of law, these arguments of counsel, these reasonings of 
the court, and this weighing in the nicest of scales the conflicting evidence, are 
to be settled and passed upon by a jury of twelve men, approved by the people 
and coming fi'om among the people ! How momentous is often the result of 
theu- opinions ! Property, hberty, and hfe itself, hang upon thek verdicts ; and 
yet how often is it that their verdict is wrong ! And is it not necessary that 
jurors should be intelligent ? Go to the litigant, who watches the progress of 
his cause with an intensity of interest, and upon whose heart every circumstance 
of trial tells, like the puuctm'e of a nerve, and ask him if his rights are safe in 
the hands of an ignorant jury. 

Recently, in one of the counties of our own Commonwealth, an incompetent 
juryman was observed to slumber during the progress of an important trial. 
The fact was communicated by a party to his counsel. " Let him sleep," was 
the reply ; " his dreams will be as inteUigent as his waking thoughts." " I be- 
heve it," said the party, as he sat down, heartsick, in his seat ; and the juror 
slumbered till his laborious breatliing attracted the attention of the judges. 

Tt is not, however, the mijust loss of 'property, of liberty, or even of hfe itself, 
which alone should prompt us to labor for the promotion of increased intelli- 
gence among those who may act upon our juries. Every wrong adjudication 
has a more deleterious effect than the mere loss of either of these rights, how- 
ever valuable they may be to their possessor. It weakens the confidence of man 
in the honesty of his peers ; it jeopai-ds that feelmg of security which is essential 
to individual happiness ; it impairs the strength of our reUance upon that great 
conservative featm-e of a representative government ; and, by forcing upon the 
mind the remembrance of a wrong endured, it weakens our deske to give per- 
manency to those institutions which have partially failed to answer the end of 
their creation. 

But stUl, when the suffering litigant, under the mfluence of these feelings, 
calls for increased intelligence and vii-tue in the jmy-box, let him reflect, that 
however embarrassing, and arduous, and important are the duties of a juror, they 
are not more important, and require no more consideration, than those pohtical 
duties which are performed sometimes, almost without even a thought of duty. 

There are other modes in which education ministers to the prosperity and the 
security of the institutions of the State, to some of which I can only refer, and 
to otliers I cannot even allude. 

The more tlian three hundred flomishing towns and cities in our Commonwealth 
have municipal duties, which education alone can enable them to perform. The 
annual election of their municipal ofiicers, the construction and repair of roads and 
bridges, the sanitary regulations for the preservation of the public health, the 
adoption of precautionary measm'es against the commission of crime, the pre- 
ventives against, the remedy for, and the support of honest poverty, the regula- 
tions for the security of individual property, the appropriations for beneficent 
municipal objects, the applications of money for those institutions of learning, the 
sustenance of which the law has wisely thrown upon them, and the appointment 
of persons to watch over these nurseries of virtue and knowledge — all these ob- 
jects require the exercise of those liigher qualities, both of the mind and heart, 
without which we are neither faithful to our trusts, just to ourselves, nor mind- 
ful of our posterity. 

Having thus far considered the necessity of popular education in a popular 
government, and, to some extent, the manner in which it affects the operation 



2^ij^ DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRIDGEWATER. 

of this vast, wise, and complex system, let me ask of you whether the people are 
equal to the responsibihties which have been thrown upon them by the framers 
of our government. I do not now refer to that great State, in one of the con- 
gressional districts of which there is not a single newspaper, because its inhab- 
itants cannot read ! nor to those constituent parts of our great confederacy, 
where candidates for office advocate their own claims by oral addresses, because 
the ear is the only organ of communication between them and their constituents ! 
nor to those other sections of our Union, where vice and ignorance reign trimn- 
phant over the institutions of the ballot, and " fools rush in where angels fear to 
tread ;" but here, in our own venerated State, and in reference to our own be- 
loved Massachusetts, I ask of you, her citizens, if the people have arrived at that 
consummation in the education of the young, when efforts for improvement may 
safely cease. There is not, I trust, in all the mass of people within her borders, 
a single individual who will give an affirmative answer. They know that the 
offices and interests of our towns have again and again depended upon a single 
vote ! They know that more than once the vote of a single individual has dis- 
placed or elevated the very highest of om- officers ! They know, too, that often 
the character of the legislation of our Commonwealth has depended upon the 
votes of those Avho never read, who never heard read, I might almost say, who 
never heard of, the people's constitution ! 

Thus feehng, thus beMeving, there is not a man of them who would consent 
to stay the march of improvement ; and, if not for the sake of education itself, 
if not for the sake of his children and of the people, yet for the sake of those 
institutions which are perhaps om- too constant boast, he will look with eager de- 
sh'e for that period Avhen the will of the people shall be dkected by intelligence 
and virtue. 

The question then arises, how are these hopes to be realized ? How is this 
people to be educated ? How is every man, who assumes the duties of the citi- 
zen, to be fitted for the performance of them ? 

Will you point me to the family relatioiii and affirm that those who are the 
creators of the body are also to be the educators of the mind and heart ? It is 
true that aroimd the knees of the mother many a youth is yet to receive what 
so many illustrious citizens have akeady received — those invaluable precepts 
which alone 'can form the man. It is true that from the hps of many a fixther 
the cliild is to be inspired with those holy impulses which are to quicken his 
march along the path of virtue. But not all parents are sufficiently capable, not 
all have the requisite opportimity, for the performance of this great duty. And 
besides, how true is the doctrine which has received the approbation of the great 
orator of the age, thattall the children of a republic should be educated in the 
people's schools ! 

Will you point me to our colleges and our university ? Alas ! how few of the 
children of our State receive the enlightenment of their instruction ! Founded 
by the wisdom of the Pilgrims, and fostered by their children, they are ever to 
be cherished by succeedmg generations. But, though they may gild the emi- 
nences of society, they can never irradiate the sequestered vales of hfe. They 
may stand, mdeed, as the great Bethesdas of heaUng, but there is a great multi- 
tude of folk, halt, blind, and withered, who can never rejoice in the heahng of 
their waters. 

Will you refer me to those academic institutions which shine as lesser lights 
in our hterary horizon ? They have exercised, and are destined still to exercise, 
an important office in the dissemination of vu-tue and sound learning ; but they 
can never rival in their usefulness the seminaries of the people. And besides, 
they are not free schools. They have been, and must still be, supported by the 
price paid for labor ; and however useful they may be as places of preparation 
for the higher seminaries of learning, or for the acquisition of an elegant or use- 
ful education by a large class of our citizens, they can never form a hnk in that 
vast chain of intercommunication which is to give an enkindling impulse to every 
citizen in the land. 

There are in the State more than 200,000 children, between the ages of 4 and 
16 years. Of these, about 500 are supposed to be students of om* colleges and 
university, and about 12 000 to be members of the various academical institu- 



DEDICATOR Vr ADDRESS AT BRIDGEWATER. | (^g 

tions There are, then, about 190,000 children, who, if educated at all, are to 
be educated in our Common Schools. 

And in view of the momentous interests which rest upon these institutions of 
the State, the question naturally occurs to us, Are they adequate to the fulfillment 
of the designs of those who created, and of those who fostered, and who still 
foster them ? No one expects an affirmative answer. Every one admits that 
there, in the school-room, our children are to be imbued with the knowledge and 
with the love of duty ; that there it is that their powers are to be trained, their 
views expanded, and their hearts improved ; but no one believes that those by 
whom all these results are to be accompMshed are competent to the task. I 
might confidently appeal to the experience of those who, either long ago or at a 
later period, have left the Common Schools, as to the competency of their teach- 
ers. I might confidently refer to the very teachers themselves. I might refer 
also to the opinions of those parents whose children are now fitting themselves 
for the field of usefulness, or preparing for that harvest of evil wliich is sm-e to 
follow the years of neglected childhood. But many a parent has never seen the 
teacher of his cliild ; and in this respect they rival the apathy of those ignorant 
citizens whose votes give authority to the voice which speaks from the baUot. 
Recently, a Uttle gui objected to join the model school connected with one of 
our State Normal institutions. " Why," said her father, " you will receive the 
instruction of your regular teachers, assisted by those ]S"ormal jDupUs, who wiU 
instruct you, under the inspection and direction of the Normal teacher himself" 
" I know that," she rejoined, " but I don't want to go there to be practiced 
upon !" How long have ignorance and immoraUty " practiced upon " the forming 
minds of childhood ! and while, with the keenness of avarice, Ave have guarded 
the subordinate interests of property, to what rash hands have we committed 
the inappreciable interests of the mind and heart ! 

Assuming the necessity, or even the' desirableness of elevating the standard 
of Common-School education, and adding to the quahfications of those teachers 
in whom is invested a charge of such vast responsibility, let us refer to the 
modes which have been proposed for the accomplishment of these objects. 

It has been thought advisable that the means for the- education of teachers 
should be provided in our colleges and universities. But no one supposes that 
teachers can be educated there without some change, both h\ the expenses and 
in the mode of teaching, A change in one particular alone would be productive 
of no beneficial result. If, for instance, the expenses should be dimu:iished, and 
if, indeed, those persons who propose to devote themselves to the business of 
teaching were to be supported wholly at pubfic expense, there wouldiptiU remain 
the objection, that the course of studies pm'sued at these institutions, with a view 
to the learned professions, is not the one best adapted for the creation of a sym- 
pathy with the mind of a child ; and, on the other hand, if the required changes 
were made in the course of instruction, there are few districts wliich Avould feel 
themselves able to employ a teacher so expensively educated. 

Suppose both these objections to be anticipated by a diminution of the expense, 
and the creation of a depai'tment for the education of teachers. That depart- 
ment would then be subordinate to the other departments of the college, or 
those departments to the former ; and, in either case, disunion of feeling and 
coUision of interests would impau" the usefulness of both. But, apart from this 
effect, the creation of such a department for the purposes indicated, or, to obvi- 
ate still further the objection, the appropriation to them of all the departments 
of the college, would be, in one case, to ingraft a Normal School upon the insti- 
tution of a college, and, in the other, to convert the college itself into a Normal 
School. The same general views apply to the use of our incorporated academies, 
for the purposes indicated, and their correctness has been fully verified by actual 
expei-iment. In the exercise of that enlightened liberahty which for a long time 
has characterized the educational poUcy of the great State of New York, this 
identical plan was resorted to as a system of means to qualify the teachers of 
their Common Schools. An academy was selected in each of the eight senatorial 
districts, upon which was ingrafted a teachers' department. An ample appro- 
priation was made for a library and apparatus, and a further sum for the salary 
of an additional instructor. The system won to itself the confidence of the com- 
munity. The schools were well attended ; the pupils were eagerly sought for aa 



JijQ DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRIDGEWATER. 

instructors ; and such was thek success as to induce the Legislature to make 
still further appropriations for the extension of the system. 

But it is in the science of education as in the laws of natiire and the principles 
of art. One discovery or one improvement only prepares us for another, until 
we look with a feeling of derision upon those original developments which once 
commanded our unbounded admiration. Such, it would seem, was the progress 
of opinion as to this reform upon the educational system of N"ew York. Great 
even as the advantages were which attended this provision, it was found that 
the plan was only a vem in the vast mine of improvement ; and it was rightly 
supposed that, if the establishment of a department subordinate to other depart- 
ments was attended with important results to the greatest interests of the State, 
surely the endowment of an entire institution for the same objects, having no 
rival aims, engrossed by no partial pursuits, weakened by no mcidental or col- 
lateral purposes, not, hke the mistletoe, msinuating its fibers into the substance 
of another body, and dependmg upon it for a precarious, parasitical existence, 
but striking its supporting roots deeply into the soil over which it was destined 
to throw its healthful shade, would concentrate, more effectually, the power of 
effort, and of course extend more widely and more deeply the advancement of 
learning. 

Accordingly, the system of combining teachers' seminaries with academies has 
been abandoned. A J^ormal School has been established, with an endowment 
worthy of the wealth and character of that State. AJi-eady the effects of its 
establishment are visible, and the people look forward to its future influence 
with a firmer belief than the faith of prophecy. 

We come to the consideration of the wisdom of that institution which has been 
established in our own State — which, in imitation of our example, has been 
adopted by New York, and which has long existed in other countries. Let us 
advert briefly to our own State history of Normal Schools. 

The law of 1837, creating the Board of Education, made it its duty to submit 
to the Legislature such observations as experience and reflectionmight suggest 
upon the condition and efficiency of our system of popular education, and the 
most practicable means of improving and extending it. 

In obedience to this call, tlie Board, in its First Annual Report, presented to 
the Legislature its views of the propriety of the establisliment of an institution 
for the education of teachers, with a well-digested summary of the reasons in 
favor of such an institution ; and the summary concluded witli the exjDression of 
a sanguine hope that the resources of pubUc or private liberality, applied to such 
an institution, would soon remedy the existing defects in the character of the 
teacher. 

This appeal to the liberality of mdividuals was promptly met by one who 
places a proper estimate upon the usefuhiess of wealth. Prompted by the im- 
portance of the caU, Edmund DAvight (I mention it for the hundredth time, 
because, upon an occasion like the present, our duties would be incomplete with- 
out a recognition of tiie generosity of tlie act) at once placed the svun of $10,000 
conditionally at the disposal of the Board, for the purposes indicated in their 
report. 

The same Legislature, to wliich the report was made, accepted the donation, 
fulfilled the condition of its acceptance, and placed at thek disposal a sum of 
equal amount, to be expended in qualifying teachers of our Common Schools. 
In carrying out the expressed intention of the Legislature, the Board estabhshed, 
at successive periods, three institutions for the instruction of teachers in " the 
theory and practice" of school-teaching ; and when the fund which had been 
placed at then disposal was expended, the Legislature of 1842 appropriated the 
further sum of $6000 annually, for three years, to secure their continuance. 

Has this conduct, both of our Legislature and of the Board, proceeded from 
the dictates of a wise policy ? 

To strip this representation of its illustrations, the propositions may be pre- 
sented thus : 

The provision for the education of the people of the State, at the expense of 
the State, is essential to its prosperity. That people can only be educated in 
tlie Common Schools. Those schools are inadequate to the proper educational 
training of that )eople, by reason of the want of a proper degree of attainment 



DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT BRIDGEWATER. -j^tjfj 

m the teachers. These teachers cannot be educated at our colleges and our acade- 
mies. No other means are proposed for this purpose than those institutions in 
which they are to be taught the rules and principles for harmoniously unfolding 
the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature of man. And theti recurs 
the question — Is the estabUshment of such institutions the dictate of a wise 
policy ? 

It is not necessary to sustain the affirmative by argument. It needs none. 
The very statement is argument. Illustration cannot strengthen, reason cannot 
enforce it. What ! Here, in Massachusetts, in the Old Colony, " that mother of 
us all," shall v?e sit down gravely to discuss a proposition of which even barbarian 
ignorance has perceived the truth ? For now, even now, when the skeptic cavils, 
and the cautious doubt, the sultan of Turkey has spoken ! and, in lus zeal for 
the introduction of the improvements of the age, he has followed an act of reli- 
gious toleration by the establishment of a Normal School. 

France, too, has spoken ; and her voice comes to us in tones at once of encour- 
ag-ement and of warning. She has cultivated the intellect, but she has corrupted 
the heart. She has awakened the susceptibilities of the soul, but she has incited 
them to crime ; and while she has shown us, by the example of intellectual 
training, of what the system is capable, she has admonished us to neglect not the 
improvement of those other powers, the harmonious development of which is 
alone the education of the man. 

Prussia also has spoken; and when we contemplate the wonderful effects 
which the operation of her Normal Schools, for a generation, has wrought upon 
her people — the more strikingly wonderful, from the disparity which it has 
created between those who have enjoyed their benefits, and that other and more 
teachable sex, which, by its exclusion, has been cut off from a common sym- 
pathy — we are led to prize the more highly that beneficent provision of our own 
polity which declares that all the people shall be educated. 

But, more than all, and above all, Massachusetts has spoken ; and her voice 
sounds harmoniously with that of the great State of New York. She has watched 
the rise and progress of these institutions with a cautious dread of injudicious 
innovation, and yet with an earnest zeal for well-considered improvement. She 
has seen her doubts of their usefulness resolved by the hght of experience, and 
she has incorporated them into her educational policy. The three State Normal 
Schools are now her recognized offspruig, and until perfection shall have super- 
seded the necessity of effort, she stands pledged to theh support, by her past 
history and her present fame. The institution at Newton is Normal in its teach- 
ers. Normal in its accommodations, and Normal in the results which it has pro- 
duced and is stiU. producing. The institution at Westfield will start forth on the 
Sd of September next, with the means of renewed usefulness ; and this day 
witnesses the commencement of a new effort, which is to extend a benignant 
influence through future ages. 

And now, who will pronoilnce as unimportant and trifling the occasion of our 
assembling ? Let us draw within the circle of our contemplation the prospective 
advantages which tliis histitution promises, and see if our imagination clothes 
with too bright a hue the visions of the future. 

We behold its teachers working with the plastic hand of an artist upon the 
inunortal mind. We behold them, not like the painter, who makes the canvas 
glow with those delineations of genius which a few years will obliterate ; not like 
the sculptor, who fashions and works out the features of greatness, the enduring 
marble of which the hand of time will soon destroy ; but we contemplate them 
forming, and fashioning, and moulding beings who are to exist forever. Here 
they are to discipline the intellect, to train the feelings, to curb the passions, to 
inspire true motives of action, to inculcate pure principles of morality, and to 
instm that deep feeling of religious obligation which superadds to the precepts 
of pliilosophy the impulse of an enlightened conscience. Here are to be taught 
those doctrines of relation, a knowledge of which is essential to the security of 
pohtical rights and the performance of social duties. Here are to be drawn out, 
and developed, and expanded, the illimitable faculties of a being formed in God's 
own image. Here, in a word, man is to be educated. 

If this was to be the ultimate object of the establishment of this institution, 
and the pupils, who shall thus be educated, were to go forth only as future 

M 



■|(jQ DEDICATOKY ADDRESS AT BRIDGEWATER. 

fathers and mothers, and citizens, what might we not expect from their enlight- 
ened example ! 

But it has a more enlarged and extended purpose. Tire pupils who shall 
carry from these walls those principles which enlightened wisdom can alone ira- 
pai't, are to enter, year by year, those ten thousand seminaries, in which, day by 
day, are formed the hearts of the arbiters of this nation's destiny. They are to 
transfuse those principles into other minds. They are to multiply and extend 
those streams of improvement wliich, proceeding from tliis fountain, are destined 
to increase as they roll, and to fertiUze as they flow. 

Let, then, those two great States which have committed themselves to the 
fulfillment of this great effort, go on, hand in hand, with a unity never to be dis- 
severed. Let their example be for the imitation of other States and the praise 
of all posterity. Then shall the hardest difficulties wMch beset the path of free 
governments smooth themselves out before us, and then shall the blessings of 
free uistitutions be bestoAved upon the people, like the all-dispensing bounty of 
the rain and the sunshine. 



ADDRESS 

AT THE 

DEDICATION OF THE WESTFIELD STATE NORMAL SCHOOL-HOUSE, 
BY llEV. HEMAN HUMPHREY, D. D., 

September 3, 1846. 



Friends and Patrons of Popidar Education : 

Under the smiles of a beneficent Providence, this beautiful edifice has been 
reared and finished ; and "we are assembled to exchange our mutual congi-atula- 
tions upon the occasion. It is now ready for the reception of the Normal School, 
and it is fitting that, before its ample accommodations are thrown open, it should 
be dedicated to the cause for which its munificent benefactors designed it. 
, Next to the church, the school-house rose in the wildernesses of Plymouth and 
Massachusetts Bay, under the saws and hammers of those sturdy Christian 
adventm-ers, " of whom the world was not worthy." Their deep and far-reaching 
pohcy was to educate then- children for both worlds ; to prepare them, by early 
intellectual and moral traming, to glorify God here, and to enjoy him forever in 
his kingdom. By providing every facility in our power for the extension and 
thoroughness of popular education, we are only following out the wise forecast 
of the men who scarcely waited for the thawing ofif of the icy mail with which 
they were clad when they landed, before they began to execute their purpose, 
that every child, however poor, in then- infant Commonwealth, should receive at 
least what we now denominate a Common-School education. 

Their school-houses, indeed, were cheap and humble structures, compared with 
the noble Grecian edifice which is henceforth to adorn this prosperous village, 
and open its doors indiscriminately to all the youth, far and near, who may wish 
to avail themselves of its advantages. They had no schools of a higher order for 
the traimng of their teachers ; but they did what they could. It would be a 
shame and a sin, if, with all our wealth, and all the experience and advance of 
two such centuries as the past, we should content ourselves with the standard 
of popular education as they left it, or as our fathers of the last generation left 
it. It is our duty to leave the first principles, and go on unto perfection. 

The instructions of those who taught us in the primary schools, when we sat 
with our feet dangling upon the four-legged slabs, just from the saw-mill, are 
not to be undervalued. Considering the disadvantages under wliich they labored, 
it is remarkable that they accomplished so much as many of them did. But the 
best of our prunary teachers have felt and do feel the want of a suitable educa- 
tion for the discharge of their responsible duties ; and there has for some time 
been a growing conviction in the public mind, that teaching ought to be elevated 
to the rank of a hberal profession, and that to meet the demand we must have 
a new class of jjrofessional seminaries. It is to supply this desideratum in our 
own State, that the Normal Schools of West Newton, Bridgewater, and West- 
field have been established by individual and public munificence. It is confess- 
edly an experiment of very great importance, and every facility ought to be 
afforded for testing its claims to public favor. In presenting my own thoughts 
on the subject to this enlightened audience, I shall touch 

Upon the urgent demand for better qualified teachers in our Common Schools : 

Upon the reasons why those who are to be teachers should be educated with 
special reference to the profession ; 

Upon what is embraced in a good professional teacher's education ; and 

Upon the adaptation of the Normal system of instruction to give such edu- 
cation. 

Each of these topics affords ample scope for an opening discourse ; and upon 
more than one of them I would gladly dwell much longer than my liinits wiU 
allow. 

To glance at the first. The proposition is that there is an lu-gent demand f<w 



280 DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFIELU. 

better qualified teachers in our Common Schools. It is an axiom in ererj trade 
and profession, that a man must first leam the trade, must study his profession — 
in otlier words, m.ust be educated for it before he commences. A blacksmith is 
no blacksmith at all until he has learned liow to smite the anvil and shoe horses. 
Before a man sets up for a tailor, he must serve a regular apprenticeship. A 
cabinet-maker must learn the use of tools before he can make sofas and side- 
boards. The jeweler must know how to cut, and polish, and set precious stones. 
The physician, the lawyer, the clergyman, the college faculty, must all be edu- 
cated for their respective professions, to entitle them to public confidence. This 
is the general rule. Is the schoolmaster an exception ? Can he teach others 
what he has never learned himself? Is it safe to confide the education of our 
children to a mere tyro ; to one who has never been trained liimself in elementary 
studies ? He may be very honest and very faithful ; but can he teach reading, 
or grammar, or arithmetic, or surveying, if he is a poor reader of the plainest . 
prose, and gets bewildered every day among the tenses, and is sure to lose tlift 
points of compass, and find himself a starmg left-hand cipher at liis wits' end, 
whenever he ventures into the regions of fractions ? 

I have no disposition to depreciate the talents or the labors of our primary 
teachers. In mental power and moral worth, they will not suifer in comparison , 
with any equally numerous class of men and women in the community. The 
material is excellent. It is of tlie genume Saxon growth. The world cannot 
furnish a better. As a class, our teachers are douig- what they can to raise the 
standard of popular education. They work hard. They do as well as they know 
how. In these respects they are entitled to our confidence and our thanks. As a 
class, I honor, and so far as I am able, will defend them. They have laid the 
Commonwealth under lasting obligations of gratitude and encouragement ; and 
if she had done more for them, they would have done more for her. 

But it cannot be concealed or disputed, that our schools are suffering for want 
of better qualified instructors. Very few of our teachers have been systematic- 
ally educated for the profession. By far the greater number have never enjoyed 
the advantages of thorough professional training at all. They have been left to 
educate themselves as best they could, and that mainly by the process of expe- 
rience in teaching. It seems not, till lately, to have entered the minds of more 
than a few, even of the enlightened friends of our Common Schools, that teach- 
ers' seminaries are at aU necessary. It had been taken for granted that the 
demand, as in pohtical economy, would create a supply ; and that any person 
who has received a good common education himself must be competent to teach 
little children in a district school. The consequence is, that while we have edu- 
cated shoemakers, and carpenters, and goldsmiths enough — that is, men brought 
up to their business — we have but few educated schof^masters. As juster views 
are now taken of the subject, and are extending among the people, the complaint 
is growing louder and louder, that notliing like a supply of competent teachers 
can be had. After the most diligent inquiry, they cannot be found. Respect- 
able districts, by scores and hundreds, are obliged to take up with such as have 
no pretension to the requisite qualifications. 

On this subject the annual reports of school committees, from all parts of the 
Commonwealth, are alarmingly instructive. I might quote their complamts till 
sunset, that it is impossible to have good schools for want of good teachers. 
Many who offer themselves for examination are deficient in every thing ; in 
spelling, in reading, in penmanship, in geography, in grammar, in common arith- 
metic. There is not a single branch which they are capable of teaching promptly 
and correctly. Many others are but little better qualified ; and tlie majority 
would be dismissed and advised to go back to then- domestic and rural employ- 
ments, if competent instructors could be had. The demand for such teachers is 
great, and it is increasing. 

We will next inquhe into the reasons why those who are to be teacliers should 
be educated with special reference to the profession. Whatever a man under- 
takes, the importance of liis knowing how to do it, rises in proportion to the 
magnitude of the interests involved and tlie difiiculties to be overcome. In some 
cases, the first bunglei- that comes along may be employed, where no better man 
offers, because, if he fails, it is very little matter ; but, in other cases, it would 
be madness to employ any but an experienced workman. You may let any body 



DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFIELD. Igj 

hoe your potato-patcli who is willing to undertake it ; but the ship in which you 
intend to circumnavigate the globe must be built by first-rate workmen. 

When you bring a teacher into one of your primary schools of forty or fifty 
children, and put him in communication with their opening and ductile minds, 
what is the task which he has before him ? 

In the first place, what is the material upon which he is to exercise his skill ; 
which he is to mold, and fashion, and polish ? If it were a coarse and vulgar 
substance, it might go into rough hands, and take its chance. But it is something 
infinitely more precious and ductile than tlio finest gold. It is the intelligent, 
the immortal mind, or, rather, it is half a hundred such minds, sparkling around 
the teacher, and all opening to his plastic touch. It is — what shall I say ? a sub- 
stance of the finest mold, that can be fashioned and chiseled like the Grecian 
Apollo ? No ! it is a spiritual essence, fresh from the skies. It is a mysterious 
emanation from the infinite Source of being and intelligence, an immortal mind — 
ever present, though always invisible, in the school-room — seeing, hearing, think- 
ing, expanding ; always ready to take the slightest impression for good or for 
evil, and certain to be influenced every hour, one way or the other, by the 
teacher. What a responsibility ! What a task ! 

Consider the kind of substance upon which the schoolmaster is either skillfully 
or unskillfully tracing the first lines that it receives, after the» invisible cipher of 
the nursery, and what the sketching upon such a tablet ought to be. He might 
go down to the sea-shore, when the tide is out, and write as rudely as he pleased, 
and the first refluent wave would wash the surface just as smooth as the last 
ebb left it. He might draw his awkward diagrams upon the di-ifted snow-bank, 
and the first breath of air would whisk them away. He might write out his 
lessons like a wise man or a fool, and it would make no difference ; the next hour 
would obliterate them all. 

But it is not so in the school-house. Evdry tablet there is more durable than 
brass. Every line that the teacher traces upon the mind of the scholar is, as it 
were, " graven with the point of a diamond." Rust wiU eat up the hardest 
metals ; time and the elements will wear out the deepest chiseling in marble ; 
and if the painter could dip his pencil in the rainbow, the colors would at length 
fade from the canvas. But the spu-its, the impressible minds of that group of 
children, in however humble ckcumstances, are immortal. When they have 
outlived the stars, they will only have entered upon the infancy of their 
being. And there is reason to believe that no impression made upon them 
will ever be obliterated. Forgotten, during shorter or longer periods of time, 
many tilings may be ; but the cipher, without the erasure of a single line, in all 
probability remains, to be brought out by the tests of a dying hour, or the trial 
of the last day. The schoolmaster literally speaks, writes, teaches, paints, for 
eternity. They are immortal beings, whose minds are as clay to the seal under 
his hand. And who is sufficient for these things ? 

Just look at the case in another light. They are the children of a hundred 
and thirty or forty thousand families, who, as they successively become old 
enough, are receiving their education in the Common Schools of Massacliusetts. 
At present, they are under tutors and governors, and have no direct influence, 
one way or the other, upon the great interests of the Commonwealth. But who 
are they ? Go with me from school to school, from town to town, and from 
county to countv, and let us inquire. On that little form directly in front of the 
teacher, sits a distinguished and skillful physician. Just behind him you see one 
of the prominent members of the General Court. On another bench, beliind the 
door, sits a professor of mathematics, biting his pencil and puzzling over the rule 
of three. On the other side of the room, that chubby boy is none other than the 
Secretary of State. In the next school we find here a governor of the Common- 
wealth, reading in tables of two syllables ; there, from one of the poorest fam- 
ihes of the district, an importing merchant, worth half a million of dollars ; and 
close by his side one of the shrewdest lawyers in the county. Going on to the 
next school-house, in the remotest corner of the town, we find a selectman, a 
sheriff, a professor of languages, and, besides a number of enterprising and pros- 
perous farmers and mechanics, perhaps a representative to Congress. But we 
must not be partial in our visits. Let us take the cars and go into another sec- 
tion of the State, and see what we can find there. The very first boy we over- 



2g2 • DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFiELD. 

take trudging along toward the village school-house, with his dinner-basket in 
one hand, and his skates in the other, is the chief-justice of the Commonwealth. 
We enter, and who should we find there but the president of a great railroad 
company ; also one of the richest bankers in State-street ; two or three clergy- 
men, of as many different denominations ; a chemist, a town clerk, a judge of 
probate, and a great civil engineer. In the next school we see a United States 
senator at the blackboard ; a jAysician just getting out of liis a-b-abs ; a briga- 
dier-general trying to make straight marks upon his pasteboard slate ; an honor- 
able counselor digging out his first sentence in parsmg, and half a dozen school- 
teachers, some in '• baker," some in " a-cat-may-look-on-a-king," and some in " a-i-1, 
to be troubled." 

But we are not through yet. In the veiy nest school we visit — it may be in 
Boston, it may be in the obscurest mountain town of the interior, it may be on 
the sea-board, or under the shadow of Wachusett — we find an associate judge 
of the Supreme Court, or an attorney-general, or a foreign embassador, or, speak- 
ing in the past tense, a president of the United States. 

Thus, were we to visit all the primary schools of the Commonwealth, we 
should be sure to find nearly aU the ministers, lawyers, physicians, judges, legis- 
lators, professors, and other teachers, merchants, manufacturers, and, in short, all 
the most inteUig«nt, active, and useful men of the next generation in these 
schools. We cannot now point them out by name. We cannot tell who of them 
wiU be governors, and judges, and merchant princes ; but in winter, or summer, 
or both, they are all there. They are receiving the rudiments of their education 
Under such teachers as we provide for them, and m the period of life when the 
most lasting impressions are made. More, I will venture to say, is done during 
the first ten or twelve years, in the humble district school-house, to give tone and 
shape to the popular mind, than in all the years that follow. Bad habits of 
reading, or slovenly habits of writing, or loose habits of reciting and thmking, 
which are contracted there, will cling to most men as long as they live ; while, 
on the contrary, the permanent advantages of a good beginning, under competent 
instructors, ai'e witnessed and acknowledged by all. It has been so in Massa- 
chusetts from the beginning. 

Her great men have commenced their education in the common school-house. 
And " the thing that hath been is that which shall be, and that which is done is 
that which shall be done, as one generation passeth and another cometh." In 
less than half a century, all the professions in our noble State will be filled, all 
the offices will be held, all the business will be done, and nearly all the property 
will be owned, by the boys who first graduate at our Common Schools, and 
whose parents are too poor to give them a better education. It will be so as 
long as these schools are sustained and open to all : and they wiU do more or 
less to elevate the moral and intellectual character of the people, as the teachers 
are thoroughly or superficially educated. Every faithful and well-qualified 
instructor in the humblest district school is a public benefactor. But where shall 
the school committees look for a sufficient number of such, till Teachers' Sem- 
inaries furnish them ? 

It is not so well considered as it should be, that education is both a science 
and an art. Though not one of the exact sciences, it rests on deep and compli- 
cated elementary principles, and calls for a more careful study of the early sus- 
ceptibilities and operations of the human mind than any other science. Every 
child has, if I may so speak, three natures — a physical, a mental, and a moral, 
between Vv^hich there are mysterious sympatliies and connections, tliat recipro- 
cally govern and are governed. He has organs of sense, which are the inlets of 
knowledge, and without which he could not learn any thing, however skillful the 
teacher. He would stUl have a mind, but it would be a prisoner, groping hope- 
lessly in a dungeon. He has perception, reason, memory, and imagination. He 
can learn and apply rules, understand propositions, and in simple esamjDles see 
the connection between premises and conclusions. He can be stimulated and 
swayed by motives, and is pecuharly alive to then- influence. He is susceptible 
of a great variety of opposite emotions — of hope and feai- ; of joy and sorrow; 
of love and hatred. But I need not enumerate. Every cliild in the primary 
school has a moral as weU as a rational nature — has a conscience. He can discern 
between good and evil. He knows the difference between right and wrong ; 



DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFIELD. jQg 

tetween truth and falsehood. In short, he has within him all the elements of 
high responsibility ; all the noble faculties of an accountable and immortal being, 
But these faculties are yet to be unfolded, to be cultivated, to be educated. 
The understanding needs it. The memory needs it. The imagination needs it. 
The conscience and the heart need it. 

This is what I mean by education as an art; and the art here, as in most 
other cases, is founded upon the science. It is seizing upon the elements and. 
reducing them to order — it is arranging and applying fundamental principles. 
It is molding the mind, and stimulating it to liigh and noble aims. It is draw- 
ing out its powers, teaching it its own strength, and making it work, as the 
incumbent atmosphere does the steam-engine. In fine, it is the art of educating 
the whole man, of symmetrically cultivating all the powers and faculties of the 
pupil's mind, and training him up to the love and practice of aU the virtues. In 
this view, education holds a high, if not the highest rank among the liberal and 
useful arts. But it is no more intuitive than any of them. The art of educating, 
as well as every other art, must be studied, must be learned. Though it be not 
essential that every schoolmaster should be a profound intellectual and moral 
philosopher, it is necessary that he should understand what the motive power in 
the child's mind is, and how to reach it. 

It Avould be mere commonplace to add that no one can teach what he does 
not understand himself He may try ; and when he gets fairly swamped, he 
may look as wise as an owl upon a hollow tree. He may blimder along over the 
recitation like a bewildered militia-man in an enemy's country, and bless himself 
that he has got through some how or other ; but this is not teaching. It is 
mumbling and hesitating ; and, in the last resort, knocking a difficulty on the 
head as an impudent intruder, or shying round it as if it lay coiled and liissing in 
his path, Uke a serpent. It seems to be strangely overlooked, in many quarters, 
even to this day, that a competent education for teaching embraces a great deal 
more than a general and superficial knowledge of spelling, reading, writing, 
arithmetic, grammar, and geography. But really it is time for every body to 
understand the difference between smattering in school, sis hours a day, and 
teaching thoroughly, accm'ately, in all the studies. Every branch should, if pos- 
sible, be as familiar to the instructor as the first lessons in the child's reader. 
If it is not at his tongue's end, he labors under very great embarrassment. He 
has no time to study out the lessons as he goes along. He needs to be as sure 
and prompt as a percussion-lock. He must be, in order to do full justice to his 
school. 

Just consider for a moment what is required of him, every day and every 
hour. In the first place, the scliool is to be brought under strict subordination 
before he can begm to teacli. Half a hundred children, often more, of all ages, 
are to be governed, or they will soon govern him, as they do their parents at 
home. Even after his authority is estabhshed, it requires the eyes of an Argos 
to keep them in subjection and close to their studies. This, of itself, would be a 
laborious task. Let any one who doubts and theorizes, tiy it, and he wiU see. 
But it is a trifle compai-ed with what the sole teacher of a large district school 
has to do. Look in upon him, and judge for yourselves. He must hear from 
five to ten classes in as many different branches before the clock strikes twelve, 
and must do it in.the midst of constant interruptions. Mr. A., may I go to the 
fire — may I go out — may I get some snow and put into my ink — may I go 
home and get my slate ? Mr. A., will you mend my pen — will you show me 
how to do tliis sum ? I have worked upon it two hours, and it won't come right 
nohow. I wonder what such hard sums were made for. Mr. A., Sam pinclied 
me. Mr. A., Ben keeps pulling my hair. Mr. A., Mr. A., Bill studies so loud 
that I can't get my lesson. Mr. A., what time is it ? Mother says I must go 
home at three o'clock, and do the chores. 

These are a few specimens of the thousand and one que-otions and other inter- 
ruptions by which the teacher of a Common School is harassed from morning to 
night, till his patience is worn threadbare. What, then, in the mean time, is to 
become of his recitations ? Tlie classes must go on in spite of all this, if they 
are to read, and spell, and recite at aU. The sun will not stop for the pens to 
be mended, nor for the tongues to cease. Woe to the master who cannot attend 
to more than one or two things at once ! If, when a class gets up to read, he is 



1 84 DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFIELD. 

obliged to take tlio book and follow them, liar oy lino, to sec -whctlicr they call 
the "Words right and mind the stops, as I have sometimes myself witnessed, who 
will keep the school in order, and all the rest of the machinery in gear and in 
motion ? Poor man ! how I pity him from the bottom of my heart ! and how I 
pity the school too ! So, when he calls up a class in grammar, or in arithmetic, if 
he is obliged to direct hia whole attention to the lesson ; if the slightest transpo- 
sition or anomaly in the construction of a sentence sends him to his accidence to 
puzzle it out, while the whole class is waiting, dubious of his success ; or if the 
nine digits, with their characteristic obstinacy, bring him to a dead stand in some 
of the common rules, and oblige him to adjourn the recitation over night, what, 
in the mean time, must become of all the other exercises and interests of the 
school ? If any teacher in the world needs to have every thing by heart, it is 
the teacher of a common school. He has so many classes, so many branches, so 
many wheels to keep in motion, so many tilings to divide his attention, that, if 
he is not thoroughly educated himself, it is impossible for him to do justice to 
those who are committed to his care. It may be no fault of his that he is defi- 
cient in some, or even in all the branches of popular education. He may never 
have been thoroughly educated himself. Considering his limited advantages, he 
may do better than could have been expected ; but such a man will feel his de- 
ficiencies, and the school will suffer in spite of his best endeavors. 

What, then, is to be done ? Where and how are our schoolmasters and school- 
mistresses to be better educated ? There is no want of the material. We have 
young men and young women enough in Massachusetts who would prove them- 
selves worthy of the highest public confidence as teachers if they could but be regu- 
larly trained to the profession. But wl die all admit that there is a great demand 
for more thoroughly qualified teachers in the public schools, some suppose that it 
can be fully met by the colleges and academies of the State. I have no disposi- 
tion to undervalue these seminaries. They are the glory of the Commonwealth. 
No one will dispute the ability of our colleges to give just such an education 
as every schoolmaster wants. They are furnished with the ablest instructors, 
and teach many things which are far in advance of what the public schools 
require. But the colleges have no teachers' department, and do not pretend to 
qualify their graduates and undergraduates for common schoolmasters. Some 
of them teach the wintei- schools, to be sure ; and it seems to be taken for grant- 
ed, that because they have studied Greek and Latin, and Conic Sections, they 
miust know all about the branches of Common-School education. Tliis is one of 
the best examples of non sequitur that I can tliink of. Because a young man 
can read Demosthenes and calculate eclipses, he must be eminently quaUfied to 
teach a primary school ! It is no disparagement to some of the best classical 
scholars to say, that they are not fit for common schoolmasters. They are above 
the employment, but not equal to it. They can educate teachers a great deal 
better than they can teach the a-b-abs, and " When the sky falls, we shall catch 
larks." Experience abundantly proves that many who go from college halls to 
try their hand in district school-houses, are greatly surpassed by some who never 
saw a college in their lives ; and if it were the main object of a collegiate edu- 
cation to furnish schoolmasters, every one must see how very inadequate would 
be the supply. 

The academies can do more than the colleges in educating.teachers, and they 
are entitled to a great deal of credit for what they have done ; but something 
more is wanted. Wlfile I cannot agree with those, on the one hand, who speak 
disparagingly of our academies, as teacliers' seminaries, I am equally unable, on 
the other, to coincide with those who think we need no other class of Teachers' 
Institutes. Tlie truth, it seems to me, lies between these two extremes. Lei 
the academies do what they can. There is room for then- most strenuous en- 
deavors, without interfering at all with the recent movement on the part of 
benevolent individuals and the State in the same direction. If a sufficient num- 
ber of Teachers' Seminaries could be established to educate all the schoolmasters 
and mistresses that are wanted, the case would be different. But when we 
remember that there are more than three thousand school districts in Massachu- 
setts, requiring almost double the number of teachers (includiiig winter and 
summer schools), it seems as if every one must see that the agency of the acade- 
Bttiee in helping to furnish them caimot be dispensed with. Let those of them 



DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFIELD. 



185 



"which already have teachers' departments, make them still more thorough, and 
let others come into the same arrangement. Still, there will be ample room for 
another class of semiaaries, conveniently located in different parts of the Com- 
monwealth, exclusively devoted to the education of teachers, both male and 
female. 

Our three State N'ormal Schools are just these seminaries. Their sole object 
is to raise the standard of popular education by furnishing the Public Schools 
with abler teachers than they now have, or can have, without some such pro- 
vision. Leaving to our excellent academies the task of fitting young men for 
college, and for the various departments of business, they propose to take as 
many prouisiug youth of both sexes as they can accommodate, and qualify them 
thoroughly for teaching. This, and this only, is what the Normal Schools pro- 
pose ;' and it is too plain to need argument, that, with good accommodations and 
able teachers, they can do more than the academies and high schools in this par- 
ticular department. They must do more to entitle themselves to pubUc confi- 
dence and patronage. 

Are they, then, just such Teachers' Seminaries as we want ? Let us visit 
them and see. The accommodations are ample, and all the arrangements highly 
convenient. The buildings are new and handsome. The grounds are inviting, 
and such ornaments as time, alone can add, will make them still more so. The 
locations are healthful, and far removed from dangerous allurements. The prin- 
cipals are men who have distinguished themselves as able and successful teach- 
ers in the Common Schools, and their assistants are selected with special 
regard to the requisite qualiJications. By the wise and liberal policy of the 
State, tuition is free. Every branch of Common-School education is taught, and 
much more thoroughly taught, than, for the want of time, any of these branches 
can be in our best academies. Let those who doubt it go into one of these Nor- 
mal Schools, and witness the diilling, and listen to the recitations, for a single 
forenoon, and judge for themselves. No scholar escapes : no one can be super- 
ficial or hesitate without being made to feel it to the quick. The design is to 
make prompt and able teachers, by giving fine upon line, and precept upon pre- 
cept ; to make them so famUiar with the whole range of studies, that when they 
come to take charge of the schools, they shall never be at a loss, never keep a 
class waiting while they turn over books to refresh their own memories. The 
object is, as far as practicable, to make every teaclier as true and quick as steel ; 
and this cannot be done but by severe drilling, by waking up the mind to its 
best efforts, and keeping it wide aAvake from morning to night. To be a first- 
rate schoolmaster, a man must be able to attend to twenty things at once. To 
this end, he must be perfectly at home in all the studies, as I have before said ; 
and I am satisfied there is no such place for getting armed and equipped at all 
points, as in a good Normal School. If any branch is superficially taught in 
these schools, it must be the fault of the principal or "his assistants ; and if any 
incompetent or unfaithful instructor should ever be retained, it will be the fault 
of the Board of Education. 

But something more is necessary to furnish the best class of teachers, than the 
thorough instruction of which I have spoken, and much more is actually done in 
the Normal Schools. The best methods of teaching, and of the management and 
government of Common Schools, are made prominent topics of familiar lectures 
and conversation. And to make these instructions in the highest degree practi- 
cal, each of our Normal Schools has what is called a Model Primary School, 
attached to it, where, in turn, the Normal scholars have opportunity to try their 
skill in teaching and governing, under the general superintendence of the Princi- 
pal. Besides all this, public sentiment demands that the Bible should be made 
a text-book : and every Principal is expected to give moral lectures and reli- 
gious instruction, weekly, if not daily, in the school-room. While the Board, 
under whose control the State has placed this and the other Normal Schools, 
would not countenance any mere sectarian obtrusion on the part of instructors, 
they would not, I am persuaded, continue any one in his place who should reject 
the Christian Scriptures, or omit to inculcate their divine precepts upon those 
who are to be tlie future teachers of our Common Schools. Mere neutrality in 
religion on the part of any principal, were absolute neutraUty possible, would not 
be tolerated, I am sure, by the present Board. And if I thought the day would 



186 



DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFIELD. 



ever come when the high and eternal sanctions of the Chi-istian religion should 
no longer be held np in the Normal Schools, my fervent prayer would be, that 
then " one stone might not be left upon another." 

I have spoken thus far upon the direct agency which well-managed Normal 
Schools must needs have in raising the standard of popular education through 
the teachers whom they educate ; but if they succeed, there will be an indirect 
influence, equally auspicious, if not more so. The public expect, and have a right 
to expect, that they will send out model teachers ; not that all will be superior 
to those who have gone before them ; but that some,, that many will excel, in 
proportion to their superior advantages ; and that their better and more thorough 
methods of instruction will be copied by other teachers. This is the order of 
nature in the progress of all human improvements. The few who are most highly 
endowed, or best instructed, are looked up to as models by the masses in every 
community. The fortunate inventor of a labor-saving machine, or the discoverer 
of some new principle in physical science, is a public benefactor, even though he 
should not teach one in a thousand the use of the machine or the application of 
the prmciple. The man who invents a new and improved model of a steam- 
engine, or builds a better water-wheel than any before in use, or brings out from 
his power-looms a handsomer and more substantial fabric than any other manu- 
facturer, or makes a cheaper and better button, while he fills his own pockets, 
virtually teaches a thousand others how to do the same thing. The model, or 
the article manufactured, is before them, and then- own eyes and ingenuity 
do the rest. So it is in all the useful and ornamental arts ; so it is in agricul- 
ture ; so it is in building bridges and making roads. A single turnpike, passing 
through a section of country where the scraper had never been seen before, will, 
in a short time, wonderfully improve all the cross-roads for miles and miles 
on both sides of it. It is the model road for all the highway surveyors far and 
near. So with the agricultural school. Though the pupils may be few in num- 
ber, yet when they come to be scattered abroad over the farmmg districts, they 
will not only teach others what they have been taught themselves, but thousands 
will watch their improved methods of cultivation, and profit by them. 

The same thing is true in popular education. The public are benefited, both 
directly and indirectly, by every improved method of instruction. Though the 
teachers from the Normal Schools should, for some years to come, bear but a 
small proportion to the whole nimrber of schoolmasters and mistresses m the 
Commonwealth, while they will be raising up a class of teachers under their own 
improved and thorough methods of instruction, just so far as they rise above the 
ordinary level, their schools will become model schools for all tlf& neighboring 
districts. Every valuable improvement in teaching and governing will in time 
be copied, and thus the indirect agency of the Normal Schools, in raising the 
standard of general education, will be extended far beyond the limits of their 
direct and immediate influence. 

I am aware that these anticipations may be regarded as quite too sanguine 
by some who take a deep interest in the improvement of our Public Schools. 
They may demand of us how much the Common Schools have yet been benefited 
by the Normal Senrinaries, and, because their expectations have not been an- 
swered, may set down the experunent as but little short of a failure. But they 
ouglit m fairness to consider that there has not yet been time enough to test it. 
It was commenced but seven years ago, and under several disadvantages. We 
had no teachers who had themselves been trained up under the system. "When 
they began, they had much to learn, as well as every thing to teach. And they 
had no suitable accommodations. It is only the last year that the first school- 
house was built, and the other two are now just finished. Teachers cannot be 
thoroughly educated in a few months under tlie best system that ever was de- 
vised. A regular course requires two or thi-ee years of close study. But few 
have enjoyed the advantages of the system at all ; and the most highly favored 
have ^ot had time to show wh.at they can do since they left the schools and be- 
gan to teach. It would be quite imreasonable, therefore, to judge of the adapta- 
tion of the Normal system to the wants of our Public Schools, by what has 
akeady been accomplished. Give it a fair trial, and if it does not meet the 
reasonable expectations of an enlightened public, let it be abandoned. 

The great difficulty hitherto has been to keep the pupils long enough in pro- 



DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFIELD. |g^ 

fessional training. The Board have done what they could by theii" recommenda- 
tions and by-laws. The secretary and the pi'iiicipals have exhausted then- per- 
suasions, I will not say in vain, but without any thing like that degree of success 
which they have fairly earned. We are obliged to confess, that in this respect 
we have been disappointed. We did suppose that fine accommodations, free 
tuition, and the best instruction, would be sufficient inducements, not only to fill 
up the schools, but to secure attendance for a reasonable length of time. In this, 
I say, we have been disappointed. Many have remained but a single term, but 
few have given themselves time for the whole course, and the Normal Schools 
have been held answerable for their deficiencies. This is unreasonable. Nobody 
ever pretended that the new system could work miracles — that coming in at 
one door and going out at the other would make good teachers. The Normal 
Schools claim no supernatural advantages over other seminaries. Thorough 
training for any profession is a slow and arduous process. The Board of Educa- 
tion are extending the time as fast as pubUc sentunent will sustain them ; and 
they hope to be able, within a reasonable period, to make it a condition that 
those who enter shall remain long enough to reap all the substantial advantages 
which the system offers. 

But notwitlistanding these disadvantages, those who have had the best oppor- 
tunities for judging and comparing, will bear us out in claiming, that many of the 
teachers from the Normal Seminaries have distinguished themselves afi-eady in 
the primary schools, and are giving stiU brighter promise, from year to year, of 
what may be expected hereafter. Where they can be had, the normal trained 
teachers are generally preferred; and experience, with some exceptions, no 
doubt, justifies the preference. 

Let it not be said or surmised that this is a scheme to drive other worthy 
teachers from the schools. It is rather to aid them and add to their numbers. 
They cannot be sjjared. Not one district m ten could obtain a teacher from a 
Normal School if ever so much disposed, and for a long time yet to come the 
great majority must be trained elsewliere. Let them be trained. Let the most 
strenuous efforts be made by other seminaries to raise the standard of popular 
education, by furnishing better quaUfied schoolmasters and mistresses than have 
yet been raised up, and we will rejoice in the highest measure of their success. 
Let a competent number of well-educated teachers be provided, through what- 
ever agency, and the Board will mingle then- congratulations with all who labor 
in the same noble cause. 

Friends of popular education — as I am sure you all are — ministers, laymen, 
parents, teachers, school committees, let me stir you up to your duties. A nobler 
field for action, for educational labors and improvements than our own beloved 
Commonwealth furnishes, the sun does not shine upon. A richer legacy than 
our religious institutions and Common Schools never came down from a wise and 
pious ancestry. Some things can be done up, and then dismissed as requh-ing no 
further care or labor ; but it is not so with education. Like household work, it 
is always returning and never done. 

We have none the less to do because our fathers did so much, nor will our 
children be eased of the burden by our highest efforts to raise the standard. All 
the toil is to be gone over again by each successive generation. It is a circle 
which returns upon itself, and will continue to return to the end of time. The 
procession of children coming upon the stage has no end. Wait we ever so long, 
it wUl not pass by. When we depart, they will stiU be coming, and in closer 
ranks than ever. Those who are centuries behind will surely come, and the 
great business of every generation will be to educate the children of the next. 
What, therefore, our hands find to do, let us do it with our might. 

Citizens of Westfield, we congratulate you upon yom- educational enterprise 
and privileges. Few towns in t]ie Commonwealth have acted upon a wiser fore- 
cast. Besides your primary schools, with doors wide open to every child, how- 
ever poor, you have one of the oldest and most flom-ishing academies in the 
State ; not waxing and waning, as many do, but always flom'ishing under able 
teachers and a supervision which forbids its decline. With these high advan- 
tages you might have rested satisfied. But when the western Normal School 
was to be permanently located, you entered into an honorable competition for 
the additional facilities which it would bring to your doors. Favored by your 



188 



DR. HUMPHREY'S ADDRESS AT WESTFIELD. 



natural advantages, and entitling yourselves by liberal subscriptions to the pref- 
erence, you succeeded. The school which had been for some time suspended 
was brought here, and reopened with temporary accommodations, and now this 
now and beautiful edifice is to receive it. Much wiU it depend on your co-oper- 
ation with tlie Board and with the teachers for its prosperity. Upon your aid in 
accommodating the scholars from abroad on reasonable terms, and guarding 
them against those moral dangers which so easily beset the young, we confidently 
rely. You will not disappoint this expectation. You will cherish this seminary 
as you do your schools and academy. To the cause of good learning we dedi- 
cate it. To the care and benediction of Heaven we commend it. May it 
more than answer the sanguine hopes of its projectors, in furnishing teachers of 
a high order for many generations. 



ASSOCIATIONS AND AGENCIES 



IMPROVEMENT OF TEACHERS IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



In addition to the annual appropriation of seven thousand dollara for 
the support of the State Normal Schools, Massachusetts makes an 
annual contribution in aid of several associations of teachers, for their 
professional improvement, and the advancement of education generally. 

TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. 

A Teachers' Institute, as the term is now used, is an assemblage of 
teachers for a period extending from one to four weel<s, for the purpose 
of reviewing the studies they are to teach, and to witness, and to some 
extent practice, the best methods of arranging and conducting the classes 
of a school, as well as of obtaining the matured ideas of experienced 
teachers on topics of educational improvement. They bear a close re- 
semblance to the conferences of teachers, provided for in the school laws 
of Prussia and France. 

Massachusetts* was the first state to afford legislative encourage- 
ment to Teachers' Institutes. The sum of twenty-five hundred dollars a 
year is placed at the disposal of the Board of Education, to defray 
certain expenses incident to this class of meetings. 

Whenever " reasonable assurance" is given to the Board, that a number 
of teachers of common schools, not less than fifty, shall desire to assemble 
for the purpose of forming a Teachers' Institute, and to remain in session 
for such period of time as the Board shall determine ; the Board, by 
a committee, or by their secretary, or, in case of his inability, by such 
person or persons as they may delegate, are to appoint a time and place 
for a meeting, make suitable arrangements therefor, and give due notice 
thereof. 

The Board, or their committee or appointee, must engage teachers and 
lecturers for each institute that may be called ; provide rooms, fires, 
lights, attendance, and so forth ; but, for these purposes, they are not 
authorized to expend, on any one institute, a greater sum than two hun- 
dred dollars. By a regulation of the Board, the personal expenses of the 
secretary of the Board, incurred in calling and attending the institutes, 
may be defrayed from said sum of two hundred dollars ; but no extra 
allowance is made for his services. The personal expenses of the mem- 
bers for travel, board, and so forth, are to be defrayed by themselves. 
The committee of the Board, their secretary, or, in his absence, the person 
appointed by them or him, stands in the same relation to the institute ia 
which a teacher stands to his school. 

* The following notices are taken from Mr. Mann's " Tenth Annual Report." 



190 IMPROVEMENT OF TEACHERS IN MASSACHUSETTS. 

The instruction at tlie institutes is designed to be of such a character 
as shall furnish a model for common school exercises, although the 
former will naturally partake more of the oral method than the latter. 
Owing to the shortness of the time during Avhich the institutes are 
usually held, they can do but little besides giving some practical skill — 
some knowledge of the art of teaching. For a mastery of principles, or 
an indoctrination into the science of teaching, Normal Schools must be 
the main and the only unfailing reliance, in any system of common schools. 

The evenings of the session are usually occupied by debates, or by 
lecturers, who treat of any of the important topics embraced in the vast 
range of common school interests. 

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS OF TEACHERS. 

Whenever any county association of teachers, and others, shall hold 
semi-annual meetings of not lees than two days each, for the express 
purpose of promoting the interests of common schools, such associations 
are entitled to receive fifty dollars a year from the state. For obtaining 
this sum, the president and secretary of the association must certify, 
under oath, to the governor, that two such semi-annual meetings have 
been held. The governor will then draw his- warrant on the treasurer 
of the commonwealth. 

At the head of this class of associations, stands that of Essex county, 
which was formed in August, 1830, and which has held a semi-annual 
meeting every year to the present time, and was never exerting a better 
influence on the teachers themselves, or their schools, than now. Its 
object is declared to be " the improvement of teachers and the system of 
education generally." 

STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. 

The Massachusetts Teachers' Association was formed on the 25th of 
November, 1845, at a- meeting of more than two hundred " practical 
teachers" from every section of the commonwealth, on the call of the 
Essex County Teachers' Association. The association meets annually, 
and continues in session two days for lectures and discussions on topics 
of educational and professional improvement. In 1847, " a committee of 
publication" was appointed, under whose direction the " Massachusetts 
Teacher" was commenced, in 1848, and has since been issued monthly. 
The state appropriates one hundred and fifty dollars annually in aid of 
the objects of the association. 

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 

This institution had its origin at a meeting of teachers and other 
friends of education, in Boston, on the 15th of March, 1830. A com- 
mittee then appointed, reported to a convention, composed of several 
hundred persons, mostly teachers, from eleven different states of the 
Union, which met in the Representatives Hall, on the 19th of August, 
in the same year, a constitution, which, with some alterations, was adopted. 



IMPROVEMENT OF TEACHERS IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



191 



The object set forth in the constitution is, '• the difFasion of useful knowl- 
edge in regard to education." This object has been gained by the 
delivery of valuable lectures, and the discussion of interesting topics re- 
lating to popular education, at the annual meeting jn August, which 
usually continues for five or six days, and the subsequent publication 
of the same in an annual volume, now amounting to twenty. These 
lectures and papers have been prepared by some of the most distin- 
guished educators and literary naen in our country; and, at the time of 
the delivery, and since, have done much to advance common education 
and the improvement of teachers. Much of what we now Avitness and 
rejoice in, as evidence of increased interest in this all-embracing good 
cause, can be traced back to the efforts of the members of this Institute, at 
their anniversary, and in their own spheres of usefulness and labor at home. 

Well might President Wayland, in his introductory discourse, in 1830, 
say: "In the long train of her joyous anniversaries, New England has 
yet beheld no one more joyous than this. We have assembled to-day, not 
to proclaim how well our fathers have done, but to inquire how we may 
enable their sons to do better. We meet, not for the purpose of empty 
pageant, nor yet of national rejoicing, but to deliberate upon the most 
successful means of cultivating to its highest perfection, that invaluable 
amount of intellect which Divine Providence has committed to our hands. 
We meet to give to each other the right hand of fellowship in carrying 
forward this all-important work; and here to leave our professional 
pledge, that if each succeeding generation does not act worthily, the 
guilt shall not rest upon those who are the instructors of New England." 
In conclusion, he adds, the teacher " has chosen a noble profession. 
What can be more delightful to a philanthropic mind, than to behold 
intellectual power increased a hundred-fold by our exertions, talent de- 
veloped by our assiduity, passions eradicated by our counsel, and multi- 
tudes of men pouring abroad over society the luster of a virtuous ex- 
ample, and becoming meet to be inheritors with the saints in light ; and 
all in consequence of the direction we have given them in youth. It be- 
comes us, then, to act worthily of our station. Let us, by all the means 
in our power, second the efforts and the wishes of the public. Let us see 
that the first steps in this course are taken wisely. This country ought 
to be the best educated on the face of the earth. By the blessing of 
Heaven, we can do much toward the making of it so. God helping us, 
then, let us make our mark upon the rising generation." 

This spirit has characterised many of the eminent teachers who have 
lectured before the Institute, and have made the anniversary meetings 
seasons of rejoicing, and congratulation, and encouragement in the great 
work of school improvement. 

The state has appropriated annually, since 1836, three hundred dollars 
in aid of the publications, and other objects of the Association. The an- 
nual volume of proceedings and lectures constitute a valuable part of the 
educational literature of the country. Many of these lectures have been 
re-published in England. 



192 american institute of instruction. 

Lectures and Proceedings of the American Institute of Ik- 
STRUCTiON from 1S30 to 1847. Eighteen volumes. Boston: Ticknor. 

These volmnes embrace more than 150 lectures and essays, on a great 
variety of important topics, by some of the ablest scholars and most suc- 
cessful teachers in the country. 

CONTENTS.— Vol. I, for 1S30. Introductory Discourse, by President Wayland. Lecture 
I. Physical Education, by jQh7i C. Warren, M. D. Lecture II. Tlie Development of the In- 
tellectual Faculties, and on Teaching Geography, by James G. Carter. Lecture III. The In- 
fant School System, by William Russell. Lecture IV. The Spelling of Words, and a Rational 
Method of Teaching their Meaning, by Gideon F. Thayer. Lecture V. Lyceums and Socie- 
ties for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, hy Nehe»iiah Cleaveland. Lecture W. Practical 
Method of Teaching Rhetoric, hy Samuel P. Neiuman. Lecture \ll. Geometry and Algebra, 
by F. J. Grund. Lecture VIII. The Monitorial System of Instruction, by He7iry K. Oliver. 
Lecture IX. Vocal Music, by William C. Woodhridge. Lecture X. Luiear Drawing, by 
Walter R. Johnson. Lecture XI. Arithmetic, by Warren Colhurn. Lecture XII. Classical 
Learning, by Cornelius G. Felton. Lecture XIII. Tlie Construction and Furnishing of School- 
Rooms and Scliool Apparatus, by William J. Adams. 

Vol. II. for 1831. Introductory Lecture, by James Walker. Lecture I. Education of Fe- 
males, by George B. Emerson. Lecture II. Moral Education, by Jacob Abbott. Lecture 
III. Usefulness of Lyceums, by S. C. Phillips. LecturelV. Education of the Five Senses, by 
William H. Brooks. Lecture V. The Means which may be employed to stimulate the Student 
without the aid of Emulation, by John L. Parkhurst. Lecture VI. Grammar, by Goold 
Brown. Lecture Wl. Inlluenceof Academies and High Schools on Common Schools, hy Wil- 
liam C. Fowler. Lecture VIII. Natural History as a' Branch of Common Education, by Cle- 
ment Durgin. Prize Essay on School-Houses, by W. A. Alcott. 

Vol! Ill, for 1832. — Introductory Discourse, by Francis C. Gray. Lecture I. The best 
Methods of Teacliing tlie Living Languages, by George Ticknor. Lecture II. Some of the 
Diseases of a Literary Life, by G. Hayioard, M. D. Lecture III. The Utility of Visible Illus- 
trations, by Waller R. Johnson. Lecture IV. The Moral Influences of Physical Science, by 
John Piei-pont. Lecture V. Prize Essay, on the Teaching of Penmanship, by B. B. Foster. 
Lecture VI. Nature and Means of Early Education, as deduced from Experience, by A. B. 
Alcotl. Lecture VII. On Teaching Grammar and Composition, by Asa Rand. 

Vol. IV, for 1833. — Introductory Lecture, by William Sullivan. Lecture I. On the Impor- 
tance of a Knowledge of the Principles of Physiology to Parents and Teachers, by Edward 
Reynolds, M. D. Lecture II. The Classification of Schools, by Samuel M. Burnside. Lec- 
ture HI. Primary Education, by Gardner B. Perry. Lecture IV. Emulation in Schools by 
Leonard Withington. Lecture V. The best Method of Teaching the Ancient Languages, by 
Alpheus S. Packard. Lecture VI. Jacotot's Method of Instruction, by George W. Greene. 
Lecture VII. The best Method of Teaching Geography, by W. C. Woodbridge. Lecture Vlll. 
Necessity of Educating Teachers, by Samuel R. Hall. Lecture IX. The Adaptation of Intel- 
lectual Philosophy to Instruction, by Abijah R. Baker. Lecture X. The best Mode of Teach- 
ing Natural Phdosophy, by Benjamin Hale. 

Vol. V. 1834. — Introductory Lecture, by Caleb Cushing. Lecture I. The best Mode oJ Fix 
ing the Attention of the Young, by Warren Burton. Lecture II. The Improvement which 
may be made in the Condition of Common Schools, by Stephen Farley. Lecture III. Duties 
of Parents in regard to the Schools wliere their Children are Instructed, by Jacob Abbott. 
Lecture IV. Maternal Instruction and Management of Infant Schools, by M. M. Carlt. Lecture 
V. Teaching the Elemenls of Mathematics, hy Thomas Shericin. Lecture\l The Dangerous 
Tendency to Innovations and Extremes in Education, by Hubbard Winslow. Lecture VII. Un- 
ion of Manual with Mental Labor, in a System of Education, by Beriah Green. Lecture VIII. 
The History and Uses of Chemistry, by C. T. Jackson. Lecture IX. Natural History as a 
Study in Common Schools, by A. A. Gould, M. D. Lecture X. Science of Government as a 
Branch of Popular Education, by Joseph Story. 

Vol. VI, for 1835.— Introductory Lecture, by W. H. Furness. Lecture I. The Study of the 
Classics, by yl. Crosby. Lecttire 11. Education for an Agricultural People, by (SajnweZ ivo?/, J?-. 
Lecture HI. Political Influence of Schoolmasters, by E. Washburn. Lecture IV. State and 
Prospects of the German Population of this Country, by H. Bokuin. Lecture V. Religious Ed- 
ucation, by R. Park. Lecture VI. Importance of an Acquaintance with the Philosophy of the 
Mind to an Instructor, by J. Gregg. Lecture VII. Ends of School Discipline, by Henry L. 
McKean. Lecture VIII. Importance and Means of Cultivating the Social Affections among Pu- 
pils, by J. Blanchard. Lecture IX. Meaning and Objects of Education, by T. B. Fox. Lec- 
ture X. Management of a Common School, by T. Dicight, Jr. Lecture Xi. Moral and Spirit- 
ual Culture in Early Education, hy R. C. Watersto?i. Lecture Xll. Moral Uses of the Study cf 
Natural History, by W. C'hanning,M.. D. Lecture Xlll. Schools of the Arts, by W.Johnson. 

Vol. VII., for ISS6.— Lecture 1. Education of the Blind, by Samuel G. Hmce, M. D. Lec- 
ture 11. Thorough Teaching, by William H. Brooks. Lecture HI. Physiology, or "The House 
I live in," by William A. Alcott. Lecture IV. Incitements to Moral and Intellectual Weil-Doing,, 
by J. H. Belcher. Lecture V. Duties of Female Teachers of Common Schools, by Daniel 
Kimball. Lecture VI. Methods of Teaching Elocution in Schools, by T. D. P. Stone. Lec- 
ture VII. Influence of Intellectual Action on Civilization, by H. R. C'leavdand. LeclrcrsVlll. 
School Discipline, by S. R. Hall. 

Vol. VIII., for 1837.— Introductory Discourse, by Rev. Elipha Tl^iite. Lecture I. Study of 
the C\a.ss\cs, by John Mulligan. Lecture 11. Moral Education, by JosAmb jBa?es. Lecturelll. 
Study of Natural History, by John Lewis Russell. Lecture IV. Comparative Merits of Private 
a,ad Pahlic Schools, iiy Theodore Edson. Lecture Y. l&\oc\ilion, hy David Fosdick, Jr. Lee- 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. I93 

ture VI. Relation between the Board of Trustees and the Faculty of a University, &c., by Jas- 
per Adams. Lecture Wl. School Reform, or Teachers' Seminaries, by C/jaj-Zes Broods. Lec- 
ture VIII. Teaching of Composition in Schools, by R. G. Parker. Lecture IX. Evils of the 
Present System of Primary Instruction, by Thomas H. Palmer. Lecture X. Reading and 
Declamation, by William Russell. 

Vol. IX, for 1838.— Zectore I. Literary Responsibility of Teachers, by Charles White. Lec- 
ture II. The Head and the Heart ; or, The Relative Importance of Intellectual and Moral Cul- 
ture, by Elisha Bartlett. Lecture III. Vocal Music in Common Schools, by Joseph Harring- 
ton, Jr. Lecture IV. Model Schools, by Thomas D. James. Lecture V. Observations on the 
School System of Connecticut, by Denison Olmsted. Lecture VI. Teaching of English Gram- 
mar, by R. G. Parker. Lecture VII. Mutual Duties of Parents and Teachers, by David P. 
Page. Lecture VIII. Man, the Subject of Education, by Samuel G. Goodrich. 

Vol. X, for 1839. — Introductory Discourse, The Education of a Free People, hj Robert Ran- 
toul, Jr. Lecture I. Physiology of the Skin, by John G. Metcalf, M. D Lecture II. Mind and 
its Developments, by Emerson Davis. Lecture III. A Classic Taste in our Common Schools, 
by Luther B. Lincoln. Lecture IV. Natural Theology as a Study in Schools, by Henry A. 
Miles. LectureN. Division of Labor in Instruction, by TAomas CusAzw^, ^r. Lecture'SV The 
Claims of our Age and Country upon Teachers, by David Mack. Lecture VII. Progress of 
Moral Science, and its Application to the Business of Practical Life, by Alexander H. Everett. 
Lecture VIII. The Comparative Results of Education, by T. P. Rodman, Lecture IX. Physi- 
cal Education, by Abel L. Pierson, M. D. 

Vol. II, New Series, for 1840. — Lecture I. Intellectual Education in Harmony with Moral 
and Physical, by Joshua Bates. Lecture II. Results to be aimed at in School Instruction and 
Disciplne, by T. Cushing, Jr. Lecture III. Duty of Visiting Schools, by Thomas A. Greene. 
Lecture IW. Objects and Sleans of School Instruction, by j1. S. ikfMzze!/. Lecture\. Courtesy, 
and its Connection with School Instruction, by G. F. Thayer. Lecture VI. On the Brain and 
the Stomach, by Usher Parsons, M. D. Lecture VII. Common Complaints made against 
Teachers, by Jacob Abbott. 

Vol. XII, for 1841. — Lecture I. Best Method of Preparing and Using Spelling-Books, by Hor- 
ace Mann. Lecture II. Best Method of Exercising the Different Faculties of the Mind, by Wm. 
B. Fowle. Lecture Wl. Education of the Laboring Classes, by y. Pa?-^er. iectore IV. Impor- 
tance of the Natural Sciences in our System of Popular Education, by A. Gray. Lecture V. 
Moral Culture Essential to Intellectual Education, by E. W. Robinson. Lecture VI. Simpli- 
city of Character, as Affected by the Common Systems of Education, by J. S. Dwight. Lec- 
ture VII. Use of the Globes in Teaching Geography and A.stronomy, by A. Fleming. Lecture 
VIII. Elementary Principles of Constitutional Law, as a Branch of Education in Common 
Schools, by Edward A. Lawrence. 

Vol. XIII, for \Mi..—Lectitre I. Moral Education, by George B. Emerson. Lecture II. Uni- 
versal Language, by Samuel G. Howe. Lecture III. The Girard College, by E. C. Wines. 
Lecture IV. School Room, as an aid to Self-Education, by A. B. Muzzey. Lecture V. Mored 
Responsibility of Teachers, by William H. Wood. Lecture\l. The Teacher's Daily Prepara- 
tion. 

Vol. XIV, for 1843. — Lecture I. The Bible in Common Schools, by Heman Humphrey, D. D. 
Lecture II. The Classification of Knowledge, by Solomon Adams. Lecture III. Moral Dignity 
of the Teacher's Office, by Prof /. H. Agnew. Lecture IV. A few of the "Hows" of School- 
keeping, by Roger S. Howard. Lecture V. Advancement in the Means and Methods of Pubhc 
Instruction, by David P. Page. Lecture VI. Reading, by C. Pierce. Lecture VII. Some of 
the Duties of the Faithful Teacher, by Alfred Greenleaf. Lecture VIII. Some of the Defects of 
our Systems of Education, by R. B. Hubbard. Lecture IX. Importance of our Common 
Schools, by /S". J. May. 

Vol. XV, for 1844. — Lecture I. The Religious Element in Education, by Calvin E. Stowe. 
Lecture 11. Female Education, by Williain Russell. Lecture III. Some of the Obstacles to the 
Greater Success of Common Schools, hy Charles Northend. LecturelV. Some of the Dangers 
of Teachers, by Daniel P. Galloup. Lecture V. Natural History as a Regular Classic in our 
Seminaries, by Charles Brooks. Lecture VI. Classical Instruction, by A. H. Weld. Lecture 
VII. School Discipline, hy Joseph Hale. Lecture Vlll. Methodsof Teaching to Read, hy Sam- 
uel S. Greene. Lecture IX. The Duty of the American Teacher, by John JV. Bellows. Lec- 
ture X. The Necessity of Education in a Republican Form of Government, by Horace Mann. 
Vol. XVI, for lSi5.— Lecture I. Dignity of the Teacher's Office, hy Joel Hatces,!).!). Ad- 
dress. The Formation and Excellence of the Female Character, by Joel Hawes, D. D. Lee- 
ture II. The Duties of Examining Committees, by Frof. E. D. Sanborn. Lecture III. The Per- 
fect Teacher, by Z>e«iso« Olmstead, L.L.D. Lecture W. 'Ph.ys\o\ogy,'by Edward Jarvis,^.X>. 
Lecture V. Intellectual Arithmetic, by F. A. Adams. Lecture VI. County Teachers' Institutes, 
by Salem Town. Lecture VII. Geography, by William B. Fowle. Lecture VIII. Vocal Mu- 
sic in Common Schools, by A. N. Johnson. Lecture IX. History, by George 8. Hillard. 

Vol. XVII, for 1846. — Journal of Proceedings. List of Officers. Annual Report. Lec- 
ture I. Home Preparation for School, by Jason Whtiman. Lecture H. The Influence of Moral 
upon Intellectual Improvement, by H. B. Hooker. Lecture III. The Essentials of a Common 
School Education, and the conditions most favorable to their Attainment, by Rufus Putnam. 
Lecture IV. The Education of the Faculties, and the Proper Employment of Young Children, 
by Samuel J. May. Lecture V. The Obligation of Towns to Elevate the Character of our Com- 
mon Schools, by Luther B. Lincoln. Lecture VI. Importance of Cultivating Taste in Early 
Life, by Ariel Parish. Lecture VII. On Phonotypy and Phonography, or Speech-Writing and 
Speech-Printing, by Stephen P. Andrews. Lecture VIII. On the Study of the English Lan- 
guage, by D. Huntington. 

Vol. XVIII, for 1847.— .Tournal of Proceedings. List of Officers. Lecture 1. On the Study 
of Language, by Hubbard Win sloie. LectureU. Onthe Appropriateness of Studies to the State 
of Mental Development, by Thomas P. Rodman. 

N 



294 EDUCATIONAL PERIODICALS. 

AGENTS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

In 1850, the Board of Education were authorized to appoint two Agents 
to visit schools, dehver addresses, and in other ways to co-operate with their 
Secretary in his labors. 

EDUCATIONAL PERIODICALS. 

Although the State has not granted aid to any Educational Journal, 
there has been one or more published in the state since 1826. 

On the 1st of January, 1826' the first number of the American Journal 
of Education, the first periodical devoted to the subject, which had ap- 
peared in the English language, was commenced, and with that title, 
and as the Annals of Education, under which name it was published after 
1830, continued until 1839. Month after month, year after year, this ably- 
conducted periodical spread before a limited number of minds, broader and 
more generous views of education — its nature, objects, and methods — than 
had been before entertained. To William Russell, William C. Wood- 
bridge, and Dr. William A. Alcott, are the friends of education largely 
indebted, for their valuable services rendered amid many discourage- 
ments, as editors of this periodical. Hardly a number appeared for fifteen 
years in which the special education of teachers was not advocated and 
enforced. The following extract of the origin of this Journal, is taken 
from a letter by William Russell, Esq. 

" The Journal of Education had its origin in the mind of the late Thomas B. 
Wait, of Boston, whose attention had been peculiarly attracted to the subject of 
education, during his residence in Portland, Maine, at the time when the first 
movements were there made for the introduction of a pubhc system of primary 
schools. Mr. Wait had retired from business ; but on the return of one of his 
sons from the West, on whom he could devolve the active duties of pubUshing, 
he applied to Mr. John Frost, now of Philadelphia, to edit the intended peri- 
odical. Mr. Frost, however, was suddenly attacked with a pulmonary disease, 
which compelled him to resort to the climate of the West Indies lor lelief; 
and Mr. Wait made application to the late Dr. Coffin, of Bo.?ton, then engaged 
in editing the Boston Medical Journal. Dr. Coffin referred Mr. Wait to my- 
self; and to this circumstance was owing my subsequent connection with the 
Journal, as its editor, for nearly three years. ' Early in the second year of that 
period, Mr. Wait, finding the business connected with publishing a periodical 
too burdensome, disposed of it to Mr. S. G. Goodrich, whose attention, ere long, 
was attracted to more profitable branches of the business of publishing ; and 
the Journal, through the agency of Mr. T. H. Carter, was taken up by Messrs. 
Carter & Hendee, and, under the designation of Annals of Education, was 
edited by Mr. William C. Woodbridge, assisted by Dr. William A. Alcott. 
Subsequently the work was published by Otis, Broaders, & Co., in whose 
hands it was discontinued in 1839." 

In August, 1838, the first number of the Common School Journal was 
published under the editorship of the Hon. Horace Mann, during his 
continuance in the office of Secretary of the Board of Education, until 
1849, when it passed into the hands of William B. Fowler, by whom it 
is still edited and published at Boston. 

In January, 1848, the Massachusetts Teacher was commenced under 
the editorial charge of a Committee, appointed by the Massachusetts 
Teachers' Association. Its publication is still continued at Boston. 



NEW YORK. 



Among the earliest and most earnest advocates of legislative provi- 
sion for the professional training of teachers, stands the name of Governor 
De Wit Clinton. In his message to the Legislature in 1825, he recom- 
mends " to their consideration, the education of competent teachers ;" 
and in 1826, he again adverts to the subject in the following language : 

" Our system of instruction, with all its numerous benefits, is still, 
however, susceptible of improvement. Ten years of the life of a child 
may now be spent in a common school. In two years the elements of 
instruction may be acquired, and the remaining eight years must either 
be spent in repetition or idleness, unless the teachers of common schools 
are competent to instruct in the higher branches of knowledge. The 
outlines of geography, algebra, mineralogy, agricultural chemistry, me- 
chanical philosophy, surveying, geometry, astronomy, political economy 
and ethics, might be communicated in that period of time, by able pre- 
ceptors, without essential inteference with the calls of domestic industry. 
The vocation of a teacher in its influence on the character and destiny 
of the rising and all future generations, has either not been fully under- 
stood, or duly estimated. It is, or ought to be, ranked among the learned 
professions. With a full admission of the merits of several who now 
officiate in that capacity, still it must be conceded that the information of 
many of the instructors of our common schools does not extend beyond 
rudimental education ; that our expanding population requires constant 
accession to their numbers ; and that to realize these views, it is neces- 
sary that some new plan for obtaining able teachers should be devised. 
I therefore recommend a seminary for the education of teachers in those 
useful branches of knowledge which are proper to engraft on elementary 
attainments. A compliance with this recommendation will have the 
most benign influence on individual happiness and social prosperity." 

And again, in his message in 1828, Governor Clinton urges the subject 

on the attention of the Legislature. 

" It may be taken for granted, that the education of the body of the 
people can never attain the requisite perfection without competent in- 
structors, well acquainted with the outlines of literature and the elements 
of science." He recommends with this view, " a law authorizing the 
supervisors of each county to raise a sum not exceeding $2000, provided 



196 NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

that the same sum is subscribed by mdividuals, for the erection of a suii- 
able edifice tor a Monitorial High School, in the county town. I can 
conceif-e'of no reasonable objection to the adoption of a measure so well 
calculated to raise the character of our school masters, and to double the 
powers of our artizans by giving them a scientific education." 

In 1826, Hon. John C. Spencer, from the Literature Committee of the 
Senate, to whom the message of Governor Clinton for that year had 
been referred, made a report, recommending among other plans for the 
improvement of common schools, that the income of the " Literature 
Fund" be divided among the academies of the State, not in reference to 
the number of classical students in each, but "to the number of persons in- 
structed in each, who shall have been Hcensed as teachers of common 
schools by a proper board." He thus introduces the subject : 

" In the view which the committee have taken, our great reliance for 
nurseries of teachers must be placed on our colleges and academies. If 
they do not answer this purpose, they can be of very little use. That 
they have not hitherto been more extensively useful in that respecl is 
owing to inherent defects in the system of studies pursued there. When 
the heads of our colleges are apprised of the great want of teachers 
which it is so completely in their power to relieve, if not supply, it is but 
reasonable to expect that they will adopt a system by which young men 
whose pursuits do not require a knowledge of classics, may avail them- 
selves of the talent and instruction in those institutions, suited to their 
wants, without being compelled also to receive that which they do not 
want, and tor which they have neither time nor money." 

" In 1827, Mr. Spencer, from the same Committee, reported a bill en- 
titled ' An act to provide permanent funds for the annual appropriation 
to common schools, to increase the Literature Fund, and to promote the 
education of teachers,' by Avhich the sum of $150,000 was added to the 
Literature Fund. And the Regents of the University were required 
annually to distribute the whole income of this fund among the several 
incorporated academies and seminaries, which then were or might there- 
after become subject to their visitation, 'in proportion to the number of 
pupils instructed in each academy or seminary for six months during the 
preceding year, who shall have pursued classical studies, or the higher 
branches of English education, or both.' In the report accompanying 
this bill, which, on the 13th of April, became a law, the committee ex- 
pressly observe, that their object in thus increasing this fund is 'to pro- 
mote the education of young men in those studies which will prepare 
them for the business of instruction, which it is hoped may be accom- 
plished to some extent, by olTering inducements to the trustees of acade- 
mies to educate pupils of that description.' 'In vain will you have 
established a system of instruction ; in vain will you appropriate money 
to educate the children of the poor, if you do not provide persons compe- 
tent to execute your system, and to teach the pupils collected in the 
schools. And every citizen who has paid attention to it and become ac- 
quainted practically with the situation of our schools, knows that the in- 
competency of the great mass of teachers is a radical defect which 
impedes the whole system, frustrates the benevolent designs of the 
Legislature, and defeats the hopes and wishes of all who feel an interest 
in disseminating the blessings of education.' 'Having undertaken a 
system of public instruction, it is the solemn duty of the Legislature to 
make that system as perfect as possible. We have no right to triile with 



NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 197 

the funds of our constituents, by applying them in a mode which fails to 
attain the intended object. Competent teachers of common schools must 
be provided ; the academies of the State furnish the means of making 
that provision. There are funds which may be safely and properly 
applied to that object, and if there were none, a more just, patriotic, and 
in its true sense, popular reason for taxation cannot be urged. Let us 
aid the efforts of meritorious citizens who have devoted large portions of 
their means to the rearing of academies ; let us reward them by giving 
success to their efforts ; let us sustain seminaries that are falhng mto 
decay; let us revive the drooping and animate the prosperous, by cheer- 
ing rays of public beneficence ; and thus let us provide nurseries for tlae 
education of our children, and for the instruction of teachers who will 
expand and widen and deepen the great stream of education, until it 
shaU reach our remotest borders, and prepare our posterity for the main- 
tenance of the glory and prosperity of their country.' " 

The legal provision for the better education of teachers rested on this 
basis until 1834, when an act was passed, by which the surplus in- 
come of the Literature Fund over twelve thousand dollars was placed at 
the disposal of the Regents of the University, to be by them distributed 
to such academies, subject to their visitation as they might select, and to 
be exclusively devoted to the education of teachers for the common schools, 
in such manner and under such regulations as they might prescribe. 

In pursuance of the provisions of the act of 2d of May, 1834, author- 
izing the Regents of the University to apply a part of the income to the 
Literature Fund to the education of common school teachers, a plan was 
reported on the 8th of January, 1835, by Gen. Dix, frona the committee 
appointed for that purpose, to the Regents with the view of carrying 
into effect the intention of the act. This plan was approved and adopt- 
ed by the Regents ; and one academy was selected in each of the eight 
Senate districts, charged with the establishment of a Department spe- 
cially adapted to the instruction of teachers of common schools. To sup- 
port these departments, each academy received from the Literature 
Fund, a sufficient sum to procure the necessary apparatus for the illus- 
tration of the various branches required to be taught ; the sum of $191 
to be appropriated to the enlargement of the academical library ; and an 
annual appropriation of $400 to meet the increased expense which might 
devolve upon the institution in consequence of the establishment of the 
teachers' department. 

In his annual Report for 1836, the Superintendent (Gen. Dix,) again 
adverts to the fact, that in the adoption of this system ' the Legislature 
has merely provided for the more complete execution of a design long 
entertained, so far as respects the employment of the academies for this 
purpose. The propriety of founding separate institutions," he continues, 
'upon the model of the seminaries for teachers in Prussia, was for several 
years a subject of public discussion in this State. It was contended, on 
the one hand, that such institutions would be more likely to secure the 
object in view ; and on the other, that it might be as effectually and 
more readily accomplished through the organized academies.' After 
again referring to the act of April 13, 1827, he concludes : 

" Thus although the plan of engrafting upon the academies, depart- 
ments for the preparation of teachers, may not have been contemplated 
at the time, yet this measure is to be regarded only as a more complete 
development of the design of the Legislature in passing the act refer- 
red to." 

•'' By the 8th section of the act of April 17, 1838, appropriatmg the in- 
come of the United States Deposite Fund to the purposes of educatioo. 



298 NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

&c. Uie sum of $28,000 was directed to be annually paid over to the 
Literature Fund, and apportioned among the several academies of the 
State ; and by the 9th section, it was made the duty of the Re- 
gents of the University ' to require every academy receiving a 
distributive share of public money, under the preceding section equal to 
seven hundred dollars per annum, to establish and maintain in such 
academy, a department for the instruction of common school teachers, 
under the direction of the said Regents, as a condition of receiving the 
distributive share of every such academy.' Under this provision eight 
academies, in addition to those designated specially for this purpose by 
the Regents, established departments for the education of teachers. 

Desirous of knowing the practical operation of the departments thus 
organized, the superintendent (Mr. Spencer) during the summer of 
1840, commissioned the Rev. Dr. Potter of Union College, and D. H. 
Little, Esq. of Cherry- Valley, to visit these institutions, and report the 
result of their examinations to the department, accompanied by such 
suggestions as they might deem expedient. Prof Potter in his report, 
after enumerating the various advantages and defects which had pre- 
sented themselves to his observation in the course of his examination, 
observes in conclusion : 

' The principal evil connected with our present means of training 
teachers, is, that they contribute to supply instructors for select rather 
than for common schools ; and that for want of special exercises, they 
perform even that work imperfectly. I would suggest whether some 
means might not be adopted for training a class of teachers, with more 
especial reference to country common schools, and to primary schools 
in villages and cities ; teachers whose attainments should not extend much 
beyond the common English branches, but whose minds should be awa- 
kened by proper influence ; who should be made familiar by practice 
with the best modes of teaching ; and who should come mider strong 
obhgations to teach for at least two or three years. In Prussia and France, 
normal schools are supported at the public expense ; most of the pupils 
receive both board and tuition gratuitously ; but at the close of the course 
they give bonds to refund the whole amount received, unless they teach 
under the direction of the government for a certain number of years. 
That such schools, devoted exclusively to the preparation of teaching, 
have some advantages over any other method, is sufficiently apparent 
from the experience of other nations : and it has occurred to me that, 
as supplementary to our present system, the establishment of one in this 
State might be eminently useful. If placed under proper auspices and 
located near the Capitol, where it could enjoy the supervision of the Su- 
perintendent of Common Schools, and be visited by the members of the 
Legislature, it might contribute in many ways to raise the tone of in- 
struction throughout the State.' 

From an examination of these reports, the Superintendent comes to 
the conclusion that ' these departments ought not to be abandoned, but 
sustained and encouraged, and the means of estabUshing a large numbei 
in other academies provided. They, with the other academies and col- 
leges of the State, furnish the supply of teachers indispensable to the 
maintenance of our schools.' He recommends ' the extension of the 
pubhc patronage to all the academies in the State, to enable them to 
estabUsh teachers' departments ; and in those counties where there are 
no academies, the establishment of normal schools.' ' One model school 
or more,' he thinks, ' might be advantageously established in some cen- 
tral parts of the State, to which teachers, and those intending to be such, 
might repair to acquire the best methods of conducting our common 
schools.' 



NEW YORK STATE NORIMAL SCHOOL. jgQ 

By a resolution adopted by the Regents of the University, on the 4th 
of May of the same year, eight additional academies were designated 
for the establishment and maintenance of teachers' departments ; and the 
appropriation to each of the institutions in which such departments had 
been organized by the Regents, reduced to $300 per annum. At this 
period, including the academies which were required, mider the act of 
1838, to maintain such departments in consequence of the receipt of a 
specified portion of the Literature Fund, the number of academies in 
which departments for the education of teachers were organized was 
twenty-three, and the number of students taught in them about six 
hundred." 

The above facts and extracts have been principally gathered from a 
''Report of the Committee on Colleges, Academies, and Common 
Schools," to the House of Representatives in 1844, of Avhich Mr. Hiil- 
burd, of St. Lawrence, was chairman, and the author of the able docu- 
ment referred to. The Committee, on passing to the consideration of 
a State Normal School, remark : 

" From this recapitulation, it will appear that the principal rehance 
of the friends and supporters of the common schools, for an adequate 
supply of teachers, has, from a very early period, been upon the acade- 
mies; thattheinability of the latter to supply this demand, induced, in 1827, 
an increase of $150,000 of the fund, applicable to their support ; and this for 
the express purpose of enabling them to accomplish this object; thattlie 
Regents of the University, the guardians of these institutions, charac- 
terized this increase of the fund as an unwonted and " extraordinary " 
act of liberality on the part of the State towards them ; exphcitly recog- 
nized the condition, or rather the avowed expectations on which it was 
granted ; accepted the trust, and undertook to perform those conditions, 
and to fulfill those expectations ; that, to use the language of one of the 
superintendents, ' the design of the law was not sustained by the measures 
necessary to give it the form and effect of a system ;' that to remedy 
this evil, one academy was specially designated in each Senate district 
with an endowment of $500 to provide the necessary means and faciU- 
ities of instruction, and an amiual appropriation of $400, for the main- 
tenance of a department for the education of teachers ; and soon after- 
wards the sum of $28,000 added to the Literature Fund from the avails 
of the U. S. Deposite Fund, while eight additional academies were 
required to organize and maintain similar departments ; that, finally, the 
number of these departments was augmented to twenty-three, and every 
exertion put forth to secure the great results originally contemplated in 
their' establishment ; and that in the judgment of successive superinten- 
dents of common schools, the Regents of the University and the most 
eminent and practical friends of education throughout the state, these 
institutions, whether considered in the aggregate or with reference to 
those specially designated, from time to time, for the performance of this 
important duty, of supplying the common schools with competent teachers, 
have not succeeded in the accomplishment of that object. Having, 
therefore, to revert again to the language of the superintendent before 
referred to, ' proved inadequate to the ends proposed,' may not now ' a 
change of plan be insisted on without being open to the objection of 
abandoning a system which has not been fairly tested V And have the 
academies any just reason to complain, if they are not longer permitted 
to enjoy undiminished the liberal appropriations conferred upon them by 
the State /or a specific object ; an object which they have not been able 
satisfactorily to accomplish 7" 



200 NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

This committee having satisfied themselves that all former legislation 
on this subject was inadequate, and having examined, by a sub-com- 
mittee, the Normal Schools of Massachusetts, and inquired into their 
operation in other countries, recommended the establishment of a Normal 
School at Albany, " for, the education and training of teachers for com- 
mon schools," and that the sum of $9,600 for the first year, and $10,000 
annually for five years thereafter, in appropriations for its support. This 
recommendation was adopted by an almost unanimous vote. 

This institution is required to be located in the county of Albany ; and 
is to be under the supervision, management and direction of the Superin- 
tendent of Common Schools and the Regents of the University, who are 
authorized and required " from time to time to make all needful rules and 
regulations ; to fix the number and compensation of teachers and others 
to be employed therein ; to prescribe the preliminary examination, and 
the terms and conditions on which pupils shall be received and instructed 
therein — the number of pupils from the respective cities and counties, 
conforming as nearly as may be to the ratio of population — to fix the lo- 
cation of the said school, and the terms and conditions on which the 
grounds and buildings therefor shall be rented, if the same shall not be 
provided by the corporation of the city of Albany ; and to provide in all 
things for the good government and management of the said school.'' 
They are required to appoint a board, consisting of five persons, inclu- 
dmg the Superintendent of Common Schools, who are to constitute an 
executive committee for the care, management and gpvernment of the 
school, under the rules prescribed by the Board of Regents. Such 
executive committee, are to make full and detailed reports from time to 
time to the Superintendent and Regents, and among other things to re- 
commend such rules and regulations as they may deem proper for said 
schools. 

The superintendent and Regents are required annually to transmit to 
the Legislature an account of their proceedings and expenditures, together 
with a detailed report from the executive committee, relating to the pro- 
gress, condition, and prospects of the school. 

The city of Albany tendered the use of a suitable building, free of 
rent, for the use of the institution, and the school was organized and 
commenced the business of instruction in December, 1S44, imder the 
charge of David P. Page, Esq., of Newburyport, Mass., as Principal. 

The following members composed the Executive Committee, under 
which the institution was organized: Hon. Samuel Young, State 
Superintendent, Rev. Alonzo Potter, D. D., Rev. Wm, H. CampbeL 
Gideon Hawley and Francis Dwight, Esqrs. 



NEW YOKK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 



AT ALBANY. 








The Normal School for the state of New York, was established by an 
act of the Legislature in 1844, "for the instruction and practice of Teach- 
ers of Common Schools, in the science of Education and the art of Teach- 
ing." It was first established for five years, as an experiment, and went 
into operation on the 18th of December, 1844, in a building provided gra- 
tuitously by the city of Albany, and temporarily fitted up for that purpose. 
In 1848, an act was passed by the Legislature " for the permanent estab- 
lishment of the State Normal School," appropriating $15,000 toward the 
erection of a suitable building. The following year an additional appro- 
priation of $10,000 was made for its completion. A large and commodious 
edifice, (.See Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,) containing a dwelling-house for the Prin- 
cipal, has accordingly been erected on the corner of Lodge and Howard 
streets, adjoining the State Geological and Agricultural Rooms. To 
this building the school was removed on the 31st of July, 1849. At the 
expiration of the term of five years for which this institution was originally 
established, and in connection with the closing exercises of the Summer 



202 NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Session ending September 27, 1849, Samuel S. Randall, Esq., Deputy 
Superintendent of Common Schools, pronounced an address in which the 
origin and progress of the Normal School is thus graphically set forth: 

For several years prior to 1844, the attention of the friends of Common 
School education in this state had been strongly directed to the inadequacy 
of the existing agencies for the preparation of duly qualified teachers for 
our elementaiy institutions of learning. Liberal endowments had. from 
time to time, during a long series of years,been bestowed upon the acade- 
mies in different sections of the state, with a view to the attainment of this 
object; but the practical inabihty of these institutions to supply the de- 
mand thus made upon them with all the resources at their command, soon 
became obvious and undeniable. The establishment of Normal Schools 
for this special and exclusive purpose in various portions of Europe, where 
popular education was most flourishing, and in the adjoining state of Mas- 
sachusetts, long and honorably distinguished for her superior public and 
private schools, and the manifest tendency of these institutions to elevate 
and improve the qualifications and character of teachers, had begun to 
attract the regard of many of our most distinguished statesmen. 

On a winter's afternoon, early in the year 1844, in a retired apartment 
of one of the public buildings in this city, might have been seen, in earnest 
and prolonged consultation, several eminent individuals whose names and 
services in the cause of education are now universally acknowledged. 
The elder of them was a man of striking and venerable appearance — of 
commanding intellect and benignant mien. By his side sat one in the 
prime and vigor of manhood, whose mental faculties had long been disci- 
plined in the school of virtuous activity, and in every lineament of whose 
countenance appeared that resolute determination and moral power, which 
seldom fails to exert a wide influence upon the opinions and actions of 
men. The third in the group was a young man of slight frame and pale, 
thoughtful visage ; upon whose delicate and slender form premature de- 
bihty had palpably set its seal ; yet whose opinions seemed to be hstened 
to by his associates with the utmost deference and regard. The remain- 
ing figure was that of a well-known scholar and divine, whose potent and 
beneficial influence had long been felt in every department of the cause 
of popular education, and whose energy, activity and zeal had already ac- 
complished many salutary and much needed reforms in our system of 
public instruction. 

The subject of their consultation was the expediency and practicability 
of incorporating upon the Common School system of this state an efficient 
instrumentality for the education of teachers. The utiUty of such a 
measure, and its importance to the present and prospective interests of 
education, admitted, in the minds of these distinguished men, of no doubt. 
The sole question was whether the public mind was sufficiently prepared 
for its reception and adoption ; whether an innovation so great and striking, 
and involving as it necessarily must a heavy and continued expenditure 
of the public money, might not be strenuously and successfully resisted : 
and whether a premature and unsuccessful attempt then to carry into ex- 
ecution a measure of such vital importance, might not be attended with 
a disastrous influence upon the future prospects of the cause of education. 
These considerations after being duly weighed, were unanimously set 
aside by the intrepid spirits then in council; and it was determined that, 
backed by the strong and decided recommendation of the head of the 
Common School Department, immediate measures should be forthwith 
adopted for the establishment of a State Normal School. The men 
who thus gave the first decided impetus to the great enterprise, whose 
gratifying resuhs are now before us, were Samuel Young, Calvin T. 
HuLBURD, Francis Dwight, and Alonzo Potter. 



NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 203 

Mr. Hulburd, the able and enlightened Chairman of the Committee on 
Colleges, Academies and Common Schools, of the Assembly, visited the 
Normal Schools of Massachusetts, and after a thorough examination of 
their merits and practical operations, submitted an elaborate and eloquent 
report to the House, in favor of the immediate adoption of this principle 
in our system of public instruction. The bill introduced by him, and sus- 
tained in all its stages by his powerful influence and indefatigable exer- 
tions, and the cooperation of the most zealous friends of education through- 
out the state, became a law, and appropriated the sum of $10,000 annu- 
ally for five successive years, for the purpose of establishing and main- 
taining a State Normal School in this city. The general control of the 
Institution was committed to the Regents of the University, by whom an 
Executive Committee, consisting of five persons, one of whom was to be 
the Superintendent of Common Schools, was to be appointed, upon whom 
the direct management, discipline and course of instruction should devolve. 

In pursuance of this provision, the Board of Regents, in June, 1844, ap- 
pointed a Committee comprising the Hon. Samuel Young, then Super- 
intendent of Common Schools, the Rev. Alonzo Potter, Rev. Wm. H. 
Campbell, Hon. Gideon Hawley, and Francis Dwight, Esq. This 
committee forthwith entered upon the executioa of their responsible du- 
ties ; procured on very liberal and favorable terms from the city of Albany 
the lease for five years of the spacious building in State street, recently 
occupied by the Institution ; prescribed the necessary rules and regula- 
tions for the instruction, government and disciphne of the school, the 
course of study to be pursued, the appointment and selection of the 
pupils, &c., and procured the services of the late lamented and distinguish- 
ed Principal, then of Newburyport, Massachusetts, together with his col- 
league. Prof. Perkins, of Utica, the present Principal, as teachers. On 
the 18th day of December, 1844, the school was opened in the presence 
of a large concourse of citizens and strangers, by an eloquent address 
from Col. Young, and by other appropriate and suitable exercises. 
Twenty-nine pupils, thirteen males and sixteen females, representing 
fourteen counties only, of both sexes were in attendance, who, after listen- 
ing to a brief but clear and explicit declaration from Mr. Page, of his ob- 
jects, views and wishes in the management and direction of the high 
duties devolved upon him, entered at once upon the course of studies 
prescribed for the school. Before the close of the first term on the 11th 
of March, 1845, the number of pupils had increased to ninety-eight, com- 
prising about an equal number of each sex, and representing forty of the 
fifty-nine counties of the state. During this term the musical department 
of the school was placed under the charge of Prof Ilsley, of this city, 
and instruction in drawing was imparted by Proi". J. B. Howard, of 
Rensselaer. 

On the commencement of the second term, on the 9th of April. 1845, 
170 pupils were in attendance, comprising a nearly equal proportion of 
males and females, and representing every county in the state, with a 
single exception. Of these pupils about nine-tenths had been previously 
engaged in teaching during a longer or shorter period. The term closed 
on the 2Sth of August, with a public examination and other suitable ex- 
ercises, and thirty-four of the students received the certificate of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee and Board of Instruction, as in their judgment well 
qualified in all essential respects, to teach any of the Common Schools of 
the state. 

On the 15th of October succeeding, the school re-opened with 180 pu- 
pils, which was increased during the progress of the term to 198 from 
every county in the state but one. The death of Mr. Dwight, which 
took place on the 15th of December, and the transfer of the Rev. Dr. 
Potter to the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, created vacancies in 



204 NEW York state normal school. 

the Executive Committee, which were supplied by the appointment ol 
the Hon. Harmanus Bleecker, and the Hon. Samuel Young, the latter 
gentleman having been succeeded in the office of Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools by the Hon. N. S. Benton, of Herkimer. The sudden 
death of Mr. Dwight, who had taken a deep interest in the prosperity and 
success of the Institution, and had given to its minutest details the bene- 
fits of his supervision and constant attention, cast a deep gloom upon the 
inmates ; and the peculiar circumstances under which it took place were 
strikingly indicative of the vain and illusory nature of all human expecta- 
tions. For several weeks previous to his death, Mr. Dwight had mani- 
fested much interest in devising appropriate means for the celebration of 
the opening of the school, on the 18th of December. Alas ! how little 
could he imagine that the long line of Normal pupils, with the children of 
the various public schools of the city, to whom also he had been a signal 
benefactor, and hundreds of his fellow-citizens should, on that day, follow 
his lifeless remains to their long home ! 

At the close of the third term, March 18, 1846. a public examination 
was held, which continued during four successive days, and convinced all 
who felt an interest in the Institution, that the work of preparation for 
tlie teacher's life was, in all respects, thorough and complete. The diplo- 
ma of the Institution was conferred on forty-seven graduates. During 
this and the preceding term a valuable addition had been made to the 
Board of In.?truction, by promoting to the charge of several of the princi- 
pal departments, those graduates of the Institution who now so ably and 
successfully preside over these departments. The Experimental School, 
organized at the commencement of the second term, was placed under 
the general supervision of its present teacher, and has proved an exceed- 
ingly valuable auxiliary in the practical preparation of the pupils of the 
principal school for the discharge of their duty as teachers. Two hun- 
dred and five pupils were in attendance at the commencement of the 
fourth term, on the first Monday of May, 1846, of whom sixty-three re- 
ceived a diploma at its close in September following. During the fifth 
term, commencing on the second of November, one hundred and seventy- 
eight pupils only appeared, forty-six of whom graduated in March, 1847. 
At the commencement, however, of the sixth term in May subsequently, 
two hundred and twenty-one pupils were in attendance, of whom sixty- 
four received the diploma of the Institution in September ; and at the re- 
opening of the school in November, two hundred and five pupils appear- 
ed. Up to this period the number of names entered on the Register of 
the school as pupils, including those in attendance at the commencement 
of the seventh term, was seven hundred and thirty-seven. Of these two 
hundred and fifty-four had received their diploma as graduates, of which 
number two hundred and twenty-two were actually engaged in teaching 
in the Common Schools of the state ; and the residue, with few excep- 
tions, in the different academies or in private schools. Of those who had 
left the school without graduating, nearly all were engaged during a 
longer or shorter period in teaching in the several Common Schools. 

And now came that dark and gloomy period when the hitherto brilliant 
prospects of the Institution were overcast with deep clouds of melancholy 
and despondency — when that noble form and towering intellect which, 
from the commencement of the great experiment in progress, had assid- 
uously presided over and watched its development, was suddenly struck 
down by the relentless hand of the great destroyer — when the bereaved 
and stricken flock, deprived of their revered and beloved guide, teacher, 
friend, mourntlilly assembled in their accustomed halls on that dreary 
and desolate January day at the commencement of the year 1848, to pay 
the last sad obsequies to the remains of their departed Principal. In the 
prime and vigor of his high faculties — in the meridian brightness of his 



NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 205 

lofty and noble career — in the maturity of his well-earned fame as " first 
among the foremost" of the teachers of America, he passed away from 
among us, and sought his eternal reward in that better land where the 
ills and the obstructions of mortality are forever unknown ; where the 
emancipated spirit, freed from the clogs which here fetter its high action 
and retard its noblest development, expands its illimitable energies in the 
congenial atmosphere of infinite knowledge and infinite love. It is not 
for me, on the present occasion, to pronounce his eulogy, although I knew 
and loved him well. That has already been done by an abler hand, and 
it only remains to say that the impress which his masterly and well- 
trained mind left upon the Institution, the child of his most sanguine hopes 
and earnest efforts, and upon the interests of education generally through- 
out the state, of which he was the indefatigable promoter, has been of the 
most marked character, and will long consecrate his name and memory. 

Since this period the progress of the Institution, under the auspices of 
its present enlightened Principal, and his devoted corps of assistants, has 
been uniformly onward and upward. At the close of the seventh terra 
fifty pupils were graduated, and the eighth term opened with two hun- 
dred and eight, of whom forty-six received their diploma at its close. 
The ninth term opened on the first day of November last with one hun- 
dred and seventy-five pupils, and at its close forty-three were graduated ; 
and the tenth term, which has now just closed, opened with upward of 
two hundred pupils, of whom thirty-six are now about to graduate. 

The following account of the State Normal School is copied from the 
Annual Circular of the Executive Committee, for 1850 : 

" Each county in the state is entitled to send to the school a number of 
pupils, (either male or female,) equal to twice the number of members of 
the Assembly in such county. The pupils are appointed by the county 
and town superintendents at a meeting called by the county superintend- 
ent for that purpose. This meeting should be held and the appointment 
made at least two weeks before the commencement of each term, or as 
soon as information is received as to the number of vacancies. A list of 
the vacancies for each term will be published in the District School Jour- 
nal, as early as the number of such vacancies can be ascertained, usually 
before the close of the former term. 

Pupils once admitted to the school will have the right to remain until 
they graduate ; unless they forfeit that right by voluntarily vacating their 
place, or by improper conduct. 

Persons failing to receive appointments from their respective counties, 
should, after obtaining testimonials of a good moral character, present 
themselves the first day of the term, for examination by the Faculty. If 
such examination is satisfactory, they will receive an appointment from, 
the Executive Committee, without regard to the particular county, pro- 
vided any vacancies exist. In such case the pupil will receive mileage. 

By an act of the Legislature, passed April 11, 1849, " every teacher 
shall be deemed a qualified teacher, who shall have in possession a 
Diploma from the State Normal School." 

Q,UALipicATioN OF APPLICANTS. Females sent to the school must be 
sixteen years of age, and males eighteen. 

The superintendents, in making their appointments, are urged to pay 
no regard to the political opinions of applicants. The selections should 
be made with reference to the moral worth and abilities of the candidates. 
Decided preference ought to be given to those, who, in the judgment of 
the superintendents, give the highest promise of becoming the most effi- 
cient teachers of common schools. It is also desirable that those only 



206 NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

should be appointed who have already a good knowledge of the common 
branches of study, and who intend to remain in the school until they 
graduate. 

Entrance. All the pupils, on entering the school, are required to 
sign the following declaration: 

' We the subscribers hereby declare, that it is our intention to devote 
ourselves to the business of teaching district schools, and that our sole ob- 
ject in resorting to this Normal School is the better to prepare ourselves 
for that important duty.'' 

As this should be signed in good faith on the part of the pupils, they 
should be made acquainted with its import before they are appointed. It 
is expected of the superintendents, that they shall select such as will 
sacredly fulfill their engagements in this particular. 

Pupils on entering the school are subjected to a thorough examination, 
and are classified according to their previous attainments. The time re- 
quired to accomplish the course will depend upon the attainments and 
talents of the pupil, varying from one to four terms. Very feto, however, 
can expect to graduate in one term. 

Privileges of the Pupils. All pupils receive their tuition free. 
They are also furnished with the use of text-books withoirt charge; 
though if they already own the books of the course, they would do weU 
to bring them, together with such other books for reference as they may 
possess. Moreover, they draw a small sum from the fund for the support 
of the school, to defray in part their expenses. 

It is proposed to apportion the sum of ^1,700 among the 256 pupils, 
who may compose the school during the next term. 1. Each pupil shall 
receive three cents a mile on the distance from his county town to the 
city of Albany. 2. The remainder of the $1,700 shall then be divided 
equally among the students in attendance. 

The following list will show how much a student of each county will 
receive, during the ensuing term : 

Albany, $2.41; Allegany, $10.09; Broome, $6.76; Cattaraugus, 
$11.17; Cayuga, $7.09; Chautauque, $12.49; Chemung, $8.35; Che- 
nango, $5.41; Clinton, $7.27; Columbia, $3.28; Cortland, $6.67;' Dela- 
ware, $4.72; Dutchess, $4.66; Erie, $10.93; Essex, $6.19; Franklin, 
$8.77; Fulton, $3.76; Genesee, $9.73 ; Greene, $3.43 ; Hamilton, $4.87; 
Herkimer, $4.81; Jefferson, $7.21; Kings, $6.97; Lewis, $6.28; Living- 
ston, $9.19; Madison, $5.44; Monroe, $8.98; Montgomery, $3,61 ; New- 
York, $6.85; Niagara, $10.72; Oneida, $5.29; Onondaga, $6.40; Ontario, 
$8.26; Orange, $5.44; Orleans, $10.12; Oswego, $7.21; Otsego, $4.39; 
Putnam, $5.59; Q,ueens, $7.63; Rensselaer, $2.59; Richmond, $7.32; 
Rockland, $6.07; Saratoga, $4.78; Schenectady, $2.86; Schoharie, 
$3.07; Seneca, $7.54; St. LaAvrence, $8.59; Steuben, $8.89; Suffolk, 
$9.16; Sullivan, $5.80; Tioga, $7.42; Tompkins, $7.31; Ulster, $4.15 
Warren, $4.27 ; Washington, $3.85 ; Wayne, $7.84; Westchester, $6.46, 
Wyoming, $9.85 ; Yates, $7.96. 

It is proper to state, that if the number of pupils is less than 256, the 
sum to be received will be proportionately increased. The above sched- 
ule shows, therefore, the minimum sum to be received by each pupil. 
His apportionment cannot be less than as above stated, and it may be 
more. 

Thia money will be paid at the close of the term. 

Apparatus. A well assorted apparatus has been procured, sufficiently 
extensive to illustrate all the important principles in Natural Philosophy, 
Chemistry, and Human Physiology. Extraordinary facilities for the 
study of Physiology are afforded by the Museum of the Medical CoUege, 
which is open at all hours for visiters. 



NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 207 

Library. Besides an abundant supply of text-books upon all the 
branches of the course of study, a well selected miscellaneous library has 
been procured, to wliich all the pupils may have access free of charge. 
In the selection of this hbrary, particular care has been exercised to pro- 
cure most of the recent works upon Education, as well as several val- 
uable standard works upon the Natural Sciences, History, Mathematics, 
&c. The State library is also freely accessible to all. 

Terms and Vacations. The year is divided into two teriAs, so as 
to bring the vacations into April and October, the months for holding the 
Teachers' Institutes. This also enables the pupils to take advantage of 
the cheapness of traveling by the various means of water communication 
in the State, in going to and from the school. 

The Summer Term commences on the first Monday in May, and 
continues twenty weeks, with an intermission of one week from the 
first of July. 

The Winter Term commences on the first Monday in November, 
and continues twenty-two weeks, with an intermission from Christmas 
to New Year's day inclusive. 

Prompt Attendance. As the school will open on Monday, it would 
be for the advantage of the pupils, if they should reach Albany by the 
Thursday or Friday preceding the day of opening. The Faculty can 
then aid them im securing suitable places for boarding. 

As the examinations of the pupils preparatory for classification will 
commence on the first day of the term, it is exceedingly important that 
all the pupils should report themselves on the first morning. Those who 
arrive a day after the time, will subject not only the teachers to much 
trouble, but themselves also to the rigors of a private examination. 
After the first week, no student, except for xlie strongest reasons, shall be 
allowed to enter the school. 

Price of Boa.rd. The price of board in respectable famihes, varies 
from il.50 to $2.00, exclusive of washing. Young gentlemen by taking 
a room and boarding themselves, have sustained tliemselves at a lower 
rate. This can better be done in the summer term. 

The ladies and gentlemen are not allowed to board in the same fam- 
ilies. Particular care is taken to be assured of the respectability of the 
families who propose to take boarders, before they are recommended to 
the pupils. 

Experimental School. Two spacious rooms in the building are 
appropriated to the accommodation of the two departments of this school. 
These two departments are under the immediate supervision of the Per- 
manent Teacher, who is a graduate of the Normal School. 

The object of this school is to afibrd each Normal Pupil an opportunity 
of practising the methods of instruction and discipline inculcated at the 
Normal School, as well as to ascertain his 'aptness to teach,' and to dis- 
charge the various other duties pertaining to the teacher's responsible 
office. Each member of the graduating class is required to spend at 
least two weeks in this department 

In the experimental School there are ninety-three pupils between the 
ages of six and sixteen years. Fifty-eight of these are free pupils. 
The free seats will be hereafter given exclusively to fatherless chaldren, 
residing in the city of Albany. This is in consideration of an appropria- 
tion by the city to defray in part the expense of fitting up one of the 
rooms of the school. The remaining thirty-five pupils are charged 
$20 per year for tuition and use of books. This charge is made inerelv 
to defray the expense of sustaining the school." 



208 



NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



CoDRSE OF Study. — The following is the course of study for the 
School ; and a thorough acquaintance with the whole of it, on the part of 
the male pupils, is made a condition for graduating. 

The School is divided into three classes. Juniors, Middles and Sen- 
iors. These classes are arranged in divisions to suit the convenience of 
recitation. 

Juniors. 
Reading and Elocution. 
Spelling. 

Orthography, Normal Chart. 

Writing. 

Geography and Outline Maps, (with Map Drawing,) MitcMl. 

Drawing, (begun.) 

Intellectual Arithmetic, Colhimi. 

Elementary Arithmetic, Perkins. 

English Grammar, (begun,) Brown. 

History of United States, Willson. 

Higher Arithmetic, (begun,) Perkins. 

Elementary Algebra, (begun,) Perkins. 

Middles. 
Reading and Elocution. 
Spelling. 

Orthography, . Normal Chart. 

Writing. 

Geography and Outline Maps, (with Map Drawing,) Mitchell. 

Drawing. 

Intellectual Arithmetic, . . . . Colburn. 

English Grammar, Broivn. 

History of United States, Willson. 

Higher Arithmetic, Perkins. 

Elementary Algebra, Perkins. 

Human Physiology, Cutter. 

Geometry, (begun,) Perkins. 

Perspective Drawing, Lectures. 

Mathematical Geography and Use of Globes. 

The division of this class composed of the Juniors of the former term, will 
not be required to review such studies as they have already completed. 

Seniors. 
Higher Algebra, Chaps. VII. and VIII, (omitting 

Multinominal Theorem and Recurring Series,) Perkins. 

Geometry, Six Books, Perkins' Elements. 

Plane Trigonometry, as contained in ... . Daviei Legendre. 

Land Surveying, Davies. 

Natural Philosophy, Olmstead. 

Chemistry, with (Experimental Lectures,) . . SilUman. 

Intellectual Philosophy, . • Abercrombie. 

Moral Philosophy, Wayland, abridged. 

Rhetoric, Lectures. 

Constitutional Law, with select parts of the Stat- ( y ,^ -^^^^^ ^^ ^ 

utes of this state naost intimately connected I -^ ^^^ ...^^ ^/^^^^^^^_ 

with the rights and duties of citizens, . . f ' 

i Lectures, Theory and Prac- 
tice of Teaching, and Ex- 
perimental School. 

Elements of Astronomy, . • Lecttcres. 

Lessons in Vocal Music, to be given to all. 

The same course of study, omitting the Higher Algebra, Plane Trigo- 
nometry and Surveying, must be attained by females as a condition of 
graduating. 

Any of the pupils who desire further to pursue mathematics, can be 
allowed to do so after completing the above course of study. 



NORMAL SCHOOL 



FOR 

FEMALE TEACHERS IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. 



In the Act " to provide for the education of children at the public ex- 
pense within the city and county of Philadelphia," passed in 1818, it was 
made the duty of the Controllers, who were intrusted with the administra- 
tion of the schools, " to establish a Model School, in order to qualify 
teachers for the sectional schools, and for schools in other parts of the 
state." One of the public schools, located in Chester street, was accord- 
ingly organized as a Model School, under the direction of Joseph Lan- 
caster, whose system of school organization and instruction was introduced. 
This school was used to some extent, as a pattern after which to conduct 
the other schools, and as a school of practice to train the teachers, and to 
some extent the monitors of the other schools, up to 1836, when the system 
of Lancaster was modified so far as to substitute an older class of females, 
graduates of the school, as assistants, in the places of the monitors selected 
from the pupils themselves. From this date the school in Chester street 
did not differ materially from any other school of the same grade until 
1848, when, on the solicitation of the present accomplished and devoted 
Principal, and the recommendation of a committee of the Controllers, it 
was re-organized as a Normal School, according to the present idea of 
such an institution. 

The Normal School was opened on the 13th of January, 1848, by an 
Address from James J. Barclay, Esq., in which he gave a brief history 
of the public schools of Philadelphia, and of this new agency in the sys- 
tem, " which contemplates the thorough training of the female teachers 
in those branches of a good English education, and in such practical ex- 
ercises, as will discipline and develop the mind, adorn and elevate the 
character, insure the best mode of imparting knowledge, and of instruct- 
ing children in their studies, establish uniformity in teaching, prevent 
> fruitless experiments, manifold mistakes, and irreparable loss of time, with 
all their sad consequences to teachers and pupils." In reference to this 
last point, the Principal, in his Report for 1850, observes : 

" How wide the difference, in point of usefulness as well as happiness, 
between the teacher trained to a proper realization of her duty as an ed- 
ucator, conversant with the true principles of her art, with ability to apply 
them, and one with just knowledge sufHcient to pass an examination and 
secure a situation ; discovering, when too late, her deficiency, confined 
from day to day to the same round of unsuccessful exertion, discouraged 
by the consciousness of her incompetency, and humiliated by the irresist- 
ible conviction of her want of integrity, in continuing to occup)/^ a place 





210 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA. 

for which every day's experience proves her unfit. And, if prompted by 
a sense of duty to her pupils, she attempts to remove her deficiences by 
study, her health yields to her over-taxed strength, and she is compelled 
to abandon a profession, which, but for the w^ant of proper training before 
engaging in it, she would have ornamented, and the pursuit of which 
would have added to her happiness, instead of rendering her miserable." 

The following account of the school is gathered from the Reports of the 
Principal, for 1849 and 1850. 

Number of Pupils. — The first term of the school was commenced 
February 1st, 1848, with one hundred and six pupils ; since which time 
there have been admitted one hundred and fifty-five, exclusive of those 
admitted at the end of the last term ; consequently, the whole number 
who have enjoyed the advantages of the school, is two hundred and 
sixty-one. 

The following statement will exhibit the number belonging to the 
school at the beginning and end of each term, and also the admissions and 
withdrawals during the year : 

Attending school August 27tli, 1849, 143 

Discontinued at the close of the term ending February I5th, 1850, ... 46 

Remaining, 97 

Admitted at the close of the term, .............. 53 

Attending school, February 18th, 1850, ............ 150 

Discontinued at the close of the term ending July 26th, 1850, ..... 40 

Remaining, 110 

Admitted at the close of the term, 40 

Attending school, September 2d, 1850, 150 

Average number belonging to the school during the year, 135 

Average daily attendance, 128 

Admission of Pupils. — Pupils are admitted twice a year, in February 
and July. After evidence of sufficient age (15 years) is presented, the 
whole test of the qualifications of candidates consists in determining their 
proficiency in the branches prescribed for examination. Previous to the 
last examination, the candidates were required to answer one set of ques- 
tions orally, and one in writing ; the oral examination being a guide in 
determining whether the written answers were given by the candidate 
herself, or through the aid of some one sitting near her ; it being imprac- 
ticable always to arrange them so as to prevent communication. The 
general correspondence between the results of the oral and written ex- 
amination, proved the double examination to be unnecessary. Acting 
upon this conclusion, at the end of the last term, the examination in or- 
thography, definition of words, English grammar, history of the United 
States, geography and arithmetic, was conducted entirely in writing. 

The method of conducting the examinations, as modified, by omitting 
the oral part, is as follows : 

Questions upon each subject are prepared by the teachers of the re- 
spective branches, and submitted to the Principal, from which he selects a 
sufficient number, to be used in conducting the examination. 

To prevent any improper influence that might result from a knowledge 
of the names of the candidates, a ticket having a number upon it, is given 
to each ; by which number the applicant is known during the examina- 



NORMA.L SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA. 211 

tion ; her name not being communicated, until after the decision is made 
as to her admission. 

In determining the candidate's average of scholarship in any particular 
branch, the whole number of facts embraced in the answers to the ques- 
tions is used as a denominator, and the number answered correctly as a 
numerator ; and the part of 10 expressed by this fraction gives the aver- 
age. Thus, if the number of facts in a branch is forty, and the candidate 
answers thirty-five correctly, the average is obtained by taking f^ of 10, 
and is expressed by 8.75. 

The several averages in each branch, being added together, and di- 
vided by the number of subjects of examination, the general average of 
each candidate is obtained. The lowest average of scholarship which 
shall entitle the candidate to admission is then determined upon. At the 
last examination, those having averages above 6 were considered quali- 
fied for admission. 

In pursuing the plan of examination thus indicated, although some errors 
may occur, yet they can not be numerous or important. The method 
leaves no room for partiality, as the averages indicating the scholarship 
of the candidates must correspond with the written evidences, which are 
always preserved as vouchers for the accuracy of the results. 

Notwithstanding the small number of pupils admitted to the Normal 
School, compared with the number of applicants, I ami not aware of a 
single instance in which a controller, director, teacher or parent, was not 
satisfied with the propriety of the rejections, after having examined the 
written answers of the candidates. And, in every instance, I have found 
the teachers more surprised at the deficiency exhibited by their pupils, 
than disappointed that they were not admitted. The number of appli- 
cants, admissions and rejections, at each examination, has been as follows : 

Candidates. Admitted. Rejected. 

At the organization of the school, . . . 156 106 50 

Second examination, 56 40 16 

Third " 67 35 32 

Fourth " . 58 27 31 

Fifth « 100 53 47 

Sixth « 79 40 39 

Total, 516 301 215 

The number of admissions being but little more than 58 per cent, of the 

applicants. 

The lowest age required of candidates for admission is fifteen years ; 

the average age of pupils admitted has been fifteen years and ten months. 

Course op Instrdction. In arranging the plan of instruction, a 
primary object is to keep the mind of the pupil constantly in contact with 
subjects immediately or incidentally connected with the great object of 
her training, and to habituate her to think in reference to communicating 
her thoughts to others. In accomplishing this, the pupil necessarily at- 
tains that mental discipline, essential to the formation of habits of exact 
investigation and quick discrimination, which enable her readily to com- 
prehend and acquire the knowledge of a subject, as well as to illustrate it 
with perspicuity and clearness. 

As the name imports, the Normal School is designed to be a pattern 
school ; the instruction, therefore, in all its departments, from the most 
elementary to the highest, is adapted, as far as possible, to the methods of 
teaching Avhich are intended shall be pursued by its pupils. 

It is a well-known fact that all children of natural endowments possess 
an innate desire to know ; the eager inquisitiveness of children is pro- 
verbial. Consequently, the conclusion is self-evident, that the business 



212 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA. 

of the elementary educator is to encourage this propensity. With this 
view, the method of instruction pursued in the Normal School excludes 
altogether routine recitations, with the text book before the teacher as a 
guide, and the pupils reciting from memory, that which they have learned 
merely as a lesson. No teacher uses a text book during the recitations ; 
meeting the classes with a full knowledge of the subject, and a perfect 
acquaintance with the widest range of incidental facts which may present 
themselves in its discussion, she invites inquiry ; and questioning becomes 
as much the business of the pupils as of the teacher. 

At every stage of instruction, it is made a prominent object to imbue 
pupils with a just sense of the importance of their relations as teachers, 
and to cause them to realize, that the whole duty of a teacher does not 
consist in hearing lessons; but that her business is thoroughly to develop 
all the intellectual and moral powers, and awaken and call forth every 
talent that may be committed to her care. 

Carefully watching the results of the training desdVibed, the pleasing 
conclusion presents itself to my mind, that, as the methods of teaching 
are good in the opinion of the pupils themselves, and as mechanical modes 
give place to systems adapted to the development of the faculties, so the 
interest of the pupils is awakened ; illustrating the important fact that, 
whether in schools or communities, the interest excited in education is al- 
ways in proportion as the system of instruction is good, and efficiently 
carried out. 

Infuse into the minds of the pupils of our schools that spirit which 
prompts them to seek knowledge for the sake of itself, and they will reach 
forward from elements to principles, from lower to higher branches of 
study, until the mind's own food creates the desire for more. It excites 
that spirit which constantly cries "give" — the outbursting of that innate 
principle — the spur to mental acquirement — the desire to know. 

Studies. — At the organization of the school, in the selection of sub- 
jects of instruction, next to imparting a thorough knowledge of the 
branches taught in the public schools, preference was- given to those 
branches best calculated for mental discipline, in connection with their 
utility in the practical duties of the pupils in after life. All the subjects 
embraced in the original plan of the school are now taught in the regular 
exercises of each term. While the range of study is extended, so as to 
occupy the full period of the pupil's connection with the school, it is suffi- 
ciently limited, to enable all of ordinary industry and talents to complete 
it in the prescribed period, if the pupil is possessed of sufficient knowledge 
at the time of her admission. 

Theory and Practice of Teaching. — Lectures on the Principles of Ed- 
ucation ; embracing mental, moral and physical education. Also, in- 
struction in school government, and teaching the elementary branches, 
and practice in teaching. 

Mathematics. — Review of elementary arithmetic, and instruction in 
higher arithmetic, algebra, geometry and elementary astronomy. 

Grammar. — Review of English grammar, and instruction in etymol- 
ogy, rhetoric and elements of composition. 

Reading. — Instruction in English literature, and the art of reading. 

HiMory. — Review of geography and history of the United States, and 
instruction in the history of America, history of England, and general 
history of the world. 

Writing. — Instruction in plain and ornamental penmanship. 

Drawing. — Instruction in linear drawing, exercises in drawing from 
models, and principles of perspective. 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA. 213 

Music. — Instruction in the elements and practice of vocal music. 

MisceUaneous. — Instruction in natural philosophy, chemistry and phys- 
iology, is imparted entirely by lectures and examinations, by the Prin- 
cipal. Instruction in the constitutions of the United States and Pennsyl- 
vania, is given by the Principal and teacher of history. 

In arranging the subjects and course of instruction, the aim is to restrict 
them chiefly to such branches or subjects, as are essential to a complete ful- 
fillment of the duties of a teacher, under whatever circumstances she may 
be placed ; and not only in the instruction, but in every relation the pupil 
holds to the school, her future destination as a teacher is kept prominently 
in view. 

A very important feature of the exercises, is the recitation of the pupils 
to each other ; in which a free expression of opinion, in the way of criti- 
cism, is encouraged ; the modes of illustration being suggested by the 
pupils themselves, to meet the particular cases under consideration. This 
leads to originality of thought, and the application of methods not attain- 
able in any other way. Thus, from the very entrance of the pupil into 
the school, to the completion of her course of study, practice in teaching 
is blended with positive instruction ; and the powers of the pupil to com- 
municate her ideas to others, are successfully cultivated ; while exactness 
in the use of language becomes habitual. The purpose of the school, 
being particularly to develop the talents of the pupils as instructors, after 
a prescribed course of instruction on any topic is indicated by the Princi- 
pal or teacher of the class, the recitations are left to be carried on by the 
pupils themselves. 

The method of instruction is founded upon strictly inductive princi- 
ples; — always proceeding from the known to the unknown. In pursuing 
this course much time is required, and the patience and skill of the teacher 
are subjected to the severest test ; — while mere routine teaching, or sim- 
ply imparting positive instruction, so generally practiced because attended 
with less labor, is carefully avoided. In the application of the first 
method, the mind being necessarily the active agent in obtaining knowl- 
edge, is unfolded, while in the latter, by its being the passive recipient, it is 
liable to be overburdened and the memory only improved. If the posi- 
tive knowledge acquired by the inductive method is ever lost, the habit 
of thinking remains ; and the reasoning powers are developed and dis- 
ciplined. 

In inculcating general principles, the theories are reduced to practice ; 
and the danger of forming theoretical teachers is thus avoided. By ap- 
plying principles, under circumstances where error is sure to be pointed 
out, and corrected by the observation of class-mates and teachers, every 
lesson becomes an exercise of thought and reason. 

Schools of Practice. — The schools of practice consist of a girls' 
grammar school with 230 pupils, and two teachers, female principal and 
assistant ; and a boys' secondary school with 147 pupils, and two female 
teachers, a female principal and assistant, in the same building with the 
Normal students. At least three pupils of the Normal School are em- 
ployed at one time, in teaching in each school. The period occupied by 
the pupil-teacher is about four weeks in the term. 

The pupil-teachers give instruction, under the immediate direction of 
the principals of the schools of practice ; whose duty it is to teach with 
them and for them ; — to aid them by advice, suggestions and example ; — 
in effect, to instruct the classes through them as aids — not as substitutes. 
To enable the principal to give her undivided attention to the inexperi- 
enced pupil-teacher on first taking charge of a class, those engaged in the 
school are changed at such intervals, as to leave two experienced teach- 
ers occupied in teaching at one time ; and on the introduction of the third, 



214 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA. 

the principal remains with her, until she can manage the class alone ; a 
new teacher is then substituted for the one having been longest in prac- 
tice. Before placing a pupil in charge of a class, the principal of the 
school carefully informs her as to the particular duties connected with its 
instruction and management. If after a brief trial, the pupil-teacher is 
found deficient in ability, readily to adapt herself to the circumstances of 
her new position, she is immediately withdrawn, her deficiencies noted, 
and her instruction in the Normal School directed to their removal. The 
duty of assigning lessons is performed entirely by the principal ; the 
pupils being previously examined, at the close of the exercise, upon the 
subject of recitation. Thus making them immediately responsible to her, 
for their progress in learning. 

The successful management and instruction of the classes in the schools 
of practice, depend to a great extent upon the principals of these schools; 
and this success will be in proportion to the attention given to the minutiEP. 
of the practical duties of the schools, with which all experienced teachers 
are familiar ; guarding the pupil-teacher from falling into errors, instantly 
checking them when discovered, cultivating and bringing into exercise 
that tact required to arouse the dull, to keep in check the restless, to 
secure the attention of the indolent, and maintain a continued and uniform 
interest throughout the whole class while reciting. 

The position of the principal thus occupied, is peculiar in its charac- 
ter ; — requiring in a remarkable degree promptitude, patience and indus- 
try ; her duty being not merely to teach^ but to impart through others 
intellectual and moral instruction ; to foster correct habits, and cultivate 
and bring into action the powers of both teachers and pupils, through the 
agency of the former. The character of these schools will therefore de- 
pend entirely upon the manner in which the principals perform their 
duties, whether they are really schools of practice, or mere experimental 
schools, in which the pupil-teachers are left to learn to correct errors, by 
first making them ; — wasting their own time and that of their pupils, in 
attempts to discover methods, instead of putting them into practice. 

In affording an opportunity to the Normal pupils to acquire practice in 
teaching and discipline, the question may arise, whether the pupils whom 
they teach have equal advantages with those taught entirely by perma- 
nent teachers. The success of any school, depends in a great measure 
upon the ability and tact of the principal in its general management. In 
a small school, where the instruction is all given by one teacher, but 
little qualification is necessary, besides ability to teach properly ; but as 
the school becomes larger, the duties devolving upon its head are so far 
extended in the general management and discipline, as to render the 
ability to teach of comparatively little value, in the absence of tact in 
school government. Therefore, as an increase in the number of subordi- 
nate teachers becomes necessary, so, different qualifications are requisite 
on the part of the principal ; and while aptness to teach is an indispensable 
qualification, it must be accompanied by ability to control, and bring into 
exercise the best powers of the assistant teachers, to insure the effective 
teaching of the whole school. In substituting for permanent assistants, 

{)upil-teachers who remain in charge of the classes for a comparatively 
imited period, the tact of the principal, and her skill in school govern- 
ment, form so important an element in the success of the school, that no 
qualifications which the pupil-teachers may possess, can compensate for 
their absence. 

Under corresponding circumstances, young teachers will be more 
thorough in their instruction, and accomplish more work than older ones : 
the novelty of their position, their desire to gain the approbation of those 
directing them, and of the pupils themselves ; the great pleasure derived 
from bringing into practice qualifications they are conscious of possessing. 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA. 



215 



are incentives to exertion, which contribute largely to success. Again, 
the pupil-teachers are frequently found to communicate in a manner more 
intelligible to the pupils than those who are further removed by age ; 
the difficulty of acquiring a knowledge of a particular subject, being for- 
gotten by the older teacher, while not only the difficulty, but the proper 
means to overcome it, are yet fresh in the memory of the younger ones. 
The zeal and energy of the young teacher are imparted to her pupils 5 
they exert themselves more than if under a teacher less their equal in age. 
There is more sympathy existing between the pupils and the young 
teachers ; friendships are formed, a desire to please is engendered, and 
the discipline is maintained more by self-control than by forced obedience. 
The deep interest manifested by the pupil-teacher in the progress of her 
scholars, seldom fails to produce great exertion on the part of the latter, 
and instances are not unfrequent, where the teacher and pupils emulate 
each other, in their efforts to promote one another's happiness. If to all 
these, is added the watchful care of the principal, the results can not be 
other than satisfactory. 

The pupil-teachers, before meeting their classes, are required carefully 
to study the lessons to be recited during the day, that they may add 
interest to the exercises, by imparting instruction on subjects incidental 
to the lesson. The confidence of the class is thereby gained ; and finding 
that their instructor is not compelled to rely upon the text book, they look 
upon her as the teacher, not the mere agent to compel the recitation of the 
contents of the book. Thus, an interesting fact or an appropriate narra 
tive, introduced into the exercises, is often found to give to the young 
teacher greater influence over the class, than all the ordinary means of 
discipline. 

The pupil-teacher, accustomed herself to rigid thoroughness, insists 
upon it from habit, in the recitations of her pupils ; the constant explana- 
tion leads to inquiry, and this to thought ; and in this manner the founda- 
tion of correct education is laid. 

While the general control of the school, and even much of the teaching, 
devolve upon the principal, the pupil- teachers are made accountable to 
her for the deportment of the pupils while under their care, and also for 
their progress in learning. It is therefore made their duty to report 
promptly to the principal all cases of misconduct, or neglect of studies. 

To render the mode of instruction pursued in the schools of practice, 
conformable to the methods taught in the Normal School, the principal 
of the latter devotes a portion of time daily, to the supervision of those 
teaching in them. 

Examinations. — Written examinations of the pupils of the Normal 
School are made quarterly, in all the regular branches in which instruc- 
tion has been given during the term. As the pupil's continuance in the 
school, her position in the class, or her promotion to a higher one, depends 
upon these tests of scholarship, their results are looked to with much 
anxiety. The intervals of iheir occurrence are not sufficiently great to 
lessen their influence on the recitations of the pupils, or the every-day dis- 
charge of duty ; while their repetition is frequent enough to afford suffi- 
cient means of estimating the improvement. The results of these examina- 
tions, with the register of the daily recitations, are preserved ; affording 
a complete history of the pupil's standing and progress, during the whole 
time of her connection with the school. 

Graduating Classes. — Twice a year certificates are granted to such 
pupils as have completed the prescribed course of study, and were con- 
sidered properly qualified to perform the duties of teachers in the public 
schools. 



216 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA. 

In determining the pupil's claim to a certificate as a properly qualified 
teacher three leading requisites are considered, besides her moral qual- 
ities : 

1. Her knowledge of the branches to be taught. 

2. Her ability to communicate what she knows. 

3. Her general literary attainments. 

Every teacher should be so thoroughly conversant with the branches 
she professes to teach, as to be able to conduct the recitations without the 
use of text books ; as, in proportion to her ability to do this, she will 
succeed in imparting to her pupils a knowledge of the subject, instead of 
its mere definition — the certain result of mere routine teaching from text 
Dooks. It is obvious that ability to illustrate the subject of instruction, 
must depend entirely upon the teacher herself being so familiarized with 
It, as readily to meet the pupil's difficulties by prompt and clear illus- 
trations. 

Although a perfect acquaintance with the subjects proposed to be 
taught, is essential to the teacher, yet, to possess knowledge without 
ability to communicate it, would not constitute a qualified teacher ; while 
the greatest powers to impart, could not compensate for ignorance of the 
branches proposed to be taught. 

Thus, the perfect scholar may be an unsuccessful teacher, while the 
perfect teacher must be a perfect scholar, at least to the extent of the 
branches she teaches. The casual observer, or even the inattentive 
child, does not fail to distinguish between the mystifying, misleading, 
stultifying, and inefficient attempts of the mere scholar to teach, and the 
developing, educating, and even creating power of the thorough teacher. 
Adopting these views of the relative importance of scholarship and apt- 
ness to teach, and their inseparable connection as essential qualifications 
in forming the perfect teacher, no certificate is granted to a pupil de- 
ficient in either. 

As a test of the candidate's literary qualifications, the results of every 
examination, from the time of her admission to the completion of the full 
course of study, in connection with her daily recitations, are considered. 
In estimating her ability to teach, and tact in school discipline, her per- 
formances in the schools of practice, occupying more than one-sixth of 
the time of her pupilage in the Normal School, are taken as a guide. 

The moral character, industrious habits, and integrity of purpose of the 
candidate, are determined from an acquaintance extending through a 
period of time amply sufficient to arrive at a correct conclusion. 

The following is a copy of the certificate given to graduates of the 
Normal School : 

NORMAL SCHOOL. 

First School District of Pennsylvania. 

This is to Certify, That has pursued and completed, in a satisfactory manner, the 

course of study of the Normal School, and is deemed competent to impart instruction in the 
branches taught in the Public Grammar Schools. 

Principal. 

By authority of the Controllers of Public Schools. 

This Certificawb is granted to , a pupil of the Normal School, in testimony that 

her literary attainments, industrious habits, and integrity, qualify her to discharge properly 
all the duties of a Teacher. 

President of the Board of Controllers. 

Secretary. 

Committee of the Normal School 
Philadelphia, 18 — 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA. 217 

Teachers and Expense of Normal Schools. — The following statis- 
tics of the Normal School, and Model Schools, or Schools of Practice 
are taken from the Report of the Controllers, for 1850. 

Normal Schools located in Chester Street, above Race. 

Number of Pupil Teachers — Girls 136. Average attendance 129. 

A. T. W. Wright, Principal, Sl,000 00 

Mary E. Houpt, Teacher of Grammar, &c., 300 00 

Mary E. Brown, Teacher of Reading, &c., 300 00 

Anna Vanarsdalen, Teacher of Arithmetic, &c., 300 00 

Mary E. Tazewell, Teacher of History, &c., 300 00 

E. W. Mumford, Teacher of Drawing, 150 00 

George Kingsley, Teacher of Music, 150 00 

Model Schools, Chester Street, above Race. 
Girls' Grammar Schools. — Total 230. Average attendance 200. 

Sally P. Dawes, Principal, S500 00 

Mary Hunt, Assistant, 250 00 

Boys' Secondary School. — Total 157. Average attendance 140. 

Martha C. Brodie, P in cipal, $300 00 

Margaret Bell, Assistant, 200 00 

Total expense of the Normal School, . . $2,694 66 
" " " Model Schools, . 2,382 39 

$5,077 05 

The total expense of the Normal School to the city, exclusive of the 
expense of the Model Schools, which would be increased by their discon- 
nection from it, can not exceed $2,000, and for this sum, every Primary, 
Secondary, and Grammar School, will derive benefits which could not be 
secured by the direct expenditure of a much larger sum. The Control- 
lers bear the following testimony to the results of the school for 1850 : 
" The Normal School has been in successful operation through the year, 
and has fully met the expectations of its most sanguine friends. Already 
a number of the pupils have been elected as teachers in several of our 
schools ; and from their efficiency and aptness to teach, we may look to 
this school for a constant supply of teachers, not only well instructed 
in the different branches taught in our public schools, but capable also 
of imparting it to their pupils." 

The following statistics of the Public Schools of Philadelphia, are gath- 
ered from the " Thirty-second Annual Report of the Controllers of the 
Public Schools of the City and County of Philadelphia, composing the 
First School District of Pennsylvania, for the year ending June 30, 1850." 
pp. 244. The whole document is highly creditable to the city, and the 
Report of John S. Hart, LL.D., Principal of the High School, as well as 
that of Dr. Wright, Principal of the Normal School, should be read and 
studied by every officer and teacher connected with the administration and 
instruction of Public Schools in every large city in our country. It must 
lead to the establishment of a High School where it does not now exist, 
and of a Normal School in each city, as Boston, Providence, New York, 
Cincinnati, New Orleans, &c. 



218 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PHILADELPHIA, 

Population of First School District, in 1850, 425,000 

Number of Public Schools, 256 

Classification of the Schools,— 

High School for Boys, 1 

Normal School, 1 

Grammar Schools, 53 

Secondary Schools. 29 

Primary Schools, 132 

District or unclassified Schools, ........ 40 

Number of Scholars, — 

Males, 23,706 

Females, 21,677 

Total, 45,383 

Number of Teachers, — 

Male, 81 

Females, 646 

Total, 727 

Average number of pupils to each Teacher, 62 

Amount expended during the year, for 

Salaries and Teachers, $178,325 84 

Books and Stationery 36,213 07 

Sites, Buildings and Furniture, 40,906 63 

Fuel, Furnaces and Stoves, 13,422 72 

Total expense for all School purposes, $332,433 21 

Amount of current expenses, exclusive of houses and furniture, $291,526 58 

Average of current expense to each pupil, ...... : . 6 42 

Average of expense for each pupil, exclusive of books &c., . . 5 67 

Average expense of books and stationery to each pupil, .... 75 



RHODE ISLAND. 



The following extracts from the Report of the Commissioner of Public 
Schools for 1845, will show the steps which were taken from 1843 to 1848, 
to improve the qualifications for teachers, and make their labors more ser- 
viceable to the schools. 

BOOKS ON EDUCATION. 

"As a permanent depository of the most valuable books and documents rela- 
ting to schools, school systems, and particularly to the practical departments 
of education, I have nearly completed arrangements, to establish a library of 
education in every town, either to be under the management of the school com- 
mittee of the town, or of some district or town library association, and in either 
case to be accessible to teachers, parents, and all interested in the administra- 
tion of the school system, or the work of the more complete, thorough and prac- 
tical education of the whole community. Each library will contain about thirty 
bound volumes, and as many pamphlets. To these libraries, the Legislature 
might from time to time hereafter, forward all laws and documents relating to 
the public schools of this state, and at a small annual expense, procure the 
most valuable books and periodicals which should be published on the theory 
and practice of teaching, and the official school documents of other states, and 
thus keep up with the progress of improvement in every department of popular 
education." 

MODEL SCHOOLS. 

" Whenever called upon by school committees, and especially in reference to 
schools which from their location might become, under good teachers, modehm 
all the essential features of arrangement, instruction and discipline, for other 
schools in their vicinity, I have felt that I was rendering an essential service 
toward ' the improvement and better management of the public schools,' by 
aiding in the employment of such teachers. If but one good teacher could be 
permanently employed in each town, the direct and indirect influence of his 
teaching and example would be soon felt in every school ; and his influence 
would be still more powerful and extensive if arrangements could be made so as 
to facilitate the visitation of his school by other teachers, or so as to allow of his 
making a circuit through the districts and towns in his vicinity, and give famil- 
iar and practical lectures and illustrations of his own methods of instruction. 
It is necessary to the rapid progress of education that parents, committees and 
teachers, should see and know what a good school is, and feel that ' as is the 
teacher so is the school.' " 

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE, AND ASSOCIATIONS. 

" By Teachers' Associations as now generally used, is understood the per- 
manent organization of teachers among themselves ; and by Teachers' Institutes, 
a temporary meeting, under the appointment of themselves, or the school officer 
of the slate, for professional improvement. Teachers in every town have been 
urged to hold occasional meetings, or even a single meeting, for the purpose of 



220 EDUCATION OF TEACHERS IN RHODE ISLAND. 

listening to practical lectures and discussions, or what would in most cases be 
better, of holding familiar conversation together on topics connected with the 
arrangement of schools, or methods of instruction now practised, or recom- 
mended in the various periodicals or books which they have consulted, and on 
the condition of their own schools. But something more permanent and valu- 
able than these occasional meetings, has been aimed at by an organization of 
the teachers of the state, .or at least of a single county, into a Teachers' Insti- 
tute, with a systematic plan of operations from year to year, which shall afford 
to young and inexperienced teachers an opportunity to review the studies they 
are to teach, and to witness, and to some extent practice, the best methods of 
arranging and conducting the classes of a school, as well as of obtaining the 
matured views of the best teachers and educators on all the great topics of ed- 
ucation, as brought out in public lectures, discussions and conversation. The 
attainments of solitary reading will thus be quickened by the action of living 
mind. The acquisition of one will be tested, by the experience and strictures 
of others. New advances in any direction by one teacher, will become known, 
and made the common property of the profession. Old and defective methods 
will he held up, exposed and corrected, while valuable hints will be followed 
out and proved. The tendency to a dogmatical tone and spirit, to one-sided 
and narrow views, to a monotony of character, which every good teacher I'ears, 
and to which most professional teachers are exposed, will be withstood and ob- 
viated. The sympathies of a common pursuit, the interchange of ideas, the 
discussion of topics which concern their common advancement, the necessity 
of extending their reading and inquiries, and of cultivating the power and habit 
of written and oral expression, all these things will attach teachers to each 
other, elevate their own character and attainments, and the social and pecu- 
niary estimate of the profession." 

ITINERATING NORMAL SCHOOL AGENCY. 

"With the co-operation of the Washington County Association, the services 
of a well-qualified teacher were secured to visit every town in that county, for 
the purpose, among other objects, of acting directly on the schools as they were, 
by plain, practical exposures of defective methods, which impair the usefulness 
of the schools, and illustrations of other methods which would make the schools 
immediately and permanently better." 

NORMAL SCHOOL. 

" Although much can be done toward improving the existing qualifications 
of teachers, and elevating their social and pecuniary position, by converting 
one or more district schools in each town and county, into a model school, to 
which the young and inexperienced teacher may resort for demonstrations of 
the best methods ; or by sending good teachers on missions of education through- 
out the schools of a county; or by associations of teachers for mutual improve- 
ment, — still these agencies can not so rapidly supply, in any system of public 
education, the place of one thoroughly-organized Normal School, or an institu- 
tion for the special training of teachers, modified to suit the peculiar circum- 
stances of the state, and the present condition of the schools. With this 
conviction resting on my own mind, I have aimed every where so to set forth 
the nature, necessity, and probable results of such an institution, as to prepare 
the public mind for some legislative action toward the establishment of one 
such school, and in the absence of that, to make it an object of associated effort 
and liberality. I have good reason to believe that any movement on the part 
of the state, would be met by the prompt co-operation of not a few liberal- 
minded and liberal-handed friends of education, and the great enterprise of pre- 
paring Rhode Island teachers for Rhode Island schools, might soon be in suc- 
cessful operation." 

ADDRESSES AND PUBLICATIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF EDUCATION. 

The following extract from Remarks of the Commissioner before the 
Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, will exhibit his mode of preparing 
the way for a broad, thorough and liberal system of public instruction, by 



EDUCATION OF TEACHERS IN RHODE ISLAND. 



221 



interesting all who could be reached by the living voice or the printed 
page, in the nature and means of education, the condition and wants of 
the schools, and the best modes of introducing desirable improvements. 

" To this end public meetings have been held, not only in every town, but in 
every village and neighborhood, more numerous and more systematic in their 
plan of operations than was ever attempted in any other community, or than 
could have been carried out in the same time in any state of greater territory, 
and with a population less concentrated in villages than this. More than eleven 
hundred meetings have been held expressly to discuss topics connected with the 
public schools, at which more than fifteen hundred addresses have been deliv- 
ered. One hundred and fifty of these meetings have continued through the day 
and evening ; upward of one hundred, through two evenings and a day ; fifty, 
through two days and three evenings ; and twelve, including the Teachers' In- 
stitutes, through an entire week. In addition to this class of meetings and ad- 
dresses, upward of two hundred meetings of teachers and parents have been 
held for lectures and discussions on improved methods of teaching the studies 
ordinarily pursued in public schools, and for exhibitions or public examinations 
of schools, or of a class of pupils in certain studies, such as arithmetic, reading, 
&c. These meetings have proved highly useful. Besides these various meet- 
ings, experienced teachers have been employed to visit particular towns and 
sections of the state, and converse freely with parents by the way-side and the 
fire-side, on the condition and improvement of the district school. By these 
various agencies it is believed that a public meeting has been held within three 
miles of every home in Rhode Island, except in sections of a few towns where 
an audience of a dozen people could not be collected in a circuit of three or 
four miles. 

To the interest awakened by these addresses and by the sympathy of num- 
bers swayed by the same voice, and by the same ideas, must be added the more 
permanent and thoughtful interest cultivated by the reading of books, pam- 
phlets, and tracts on the same topics at home. More than sixteen thousand 
pamphlets and tracts, each containing at least sixteen pages of educational 
matter, have been distributed gratuitously through the state ; and in one year, 
not an almanac was sold in Rhode Island without at least sixteen pages of ed- 
ucational reading attached. This statement does not include the ofiicial school 
documents published by the state, nor the Journal of the Institute, nor up- 
ward of twelve hundred bound volumes on schools and school systems, and 
the theory and practice of teaching, which have been purchased by teachers, or 
which have been added to public or private libraries within the last four years. 
In addition to the printed information thus disseminated, the columns of the dif- 
ferent newspapers published in the state have always been open to original and 
selected articles on education, and to notices of school meetings." 

The author of the Remarks above quoted was obliged, from impaired 
health, to resign his office of Commissioner of Public Schools, before 
he could organize these various agencies into a complete and permanent 
system for the professional training and improvement of the teachers of 
Rhode Island. His plan contemplated a thoroughly-organized and 
equipped Normal School, and ultimately two Normal Schools — one to be 
located in the city of Providence, having a connection, under the auspices 
of the school committee, with a Public Grammar. Intermediate and Pri- 
mary School, or Schools of Observation and Practice, and also with Brown 
University, under a distinct professorship, and with access to libraries, ap- 
paratus, and courses of lectures, so far as the same could be made available ; 
— and the other in the country. The Normal School at Providence was 
to receive two classes of pupils — young men, whose previous studies and 
talent fitted them for the charge of the most advanced classes in public 
schools in the cities and villages, and the other for female teachers. 
The plan of a Normal School in the country, was modeled in some of 



222 EDUCATION OF TEACHERS IN RHODE ISLAND.) 

its features after the institution of Verhli, at Kruitzlingen, in Switzerland, 
of which an account was published in the Journal of the Rhode Island In- 
stitute of Instruction, in 1846, and of the Training School at Battersea, in 
England. In this school the teachers were to support themselves in whole, 
or in part, or at least the expense of board was to be reduced, after the 
plan of the Seminary at Mount Holyoke, in Massachusetts. In both in- 
stitutions, the course of instruction was to enicbrace the principles of 
science as applied to the leading industrial pursuits of the people of the 
state ; and in this department of the plan, the co-operation of the " Rhode 
Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry," was antici- 
pated. No state in the Union possesses such facilities. As was remarked 
by the Commissioner, in taking final leave of the Legislature, and the 
Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, in 1848 : 

" Her territory is small, and every advance in one town or district, can 
easily be known, seen and felt in every other. Her wealth is abundant, — more 
abundant, and more equally distributed, than in any other state. Her popula- 
tion is concentrated in villages, which will admit of the establishment of public 
schools of the highest grade. The occupations of the people are diverse, and 
this is at once an element of power and safety. Commerce will give expan- 
sion ; manufactures and the mechanical arts will give activit}'', power, inven- 
tion and skill ; and agriculture, the prudence and conservatism which should 
belong to the intellectual character and habits of a people. Rhode Island has 
a large city, to which the entire population of the state is brought by business 
or pleasure every year, and which should impart a higher tone of manners, in- 
telligence and business, than can exist in a state without a capital; and fortu- 
nately, Providence has set a noble example to the rest of the state in her edu- 
cational institutions, — in the provision of her citizens for schools, libraries, and 
institutions for religion and benevolence." 

PROFESSORSHIP IN DIDACTICS IN BROWN UNIVERSITY. 

In the reorganization of the course of instruction in Brown University as 
presented in the Report of President Wayland, on the 19th of July, 1850, 
provision is made for a course in " Didactics, or the Theory and Practice 
of Teaching." The following explanation is given in the Report. 

" The course in Didactics is designed at present especially for the benefit of 
teachers of common schools. There will be held two terms a year in this de- 
partment, of at least tAVO months each. It shall be the duty of the'professor of 
Didactics to review with the class the studies taught in common schools, and 
then to explain the manner of communicating knowledge to others. The other 
professors in the University will be expected to deliver to this class such lec- 
tures in their several departments as may be desired by the Executive Board." 

The course as thus explained, if entrusted to a competent professor, 
will accomplish much good to a limited number of teachers, who shall 
bring a suitable preparatory knowledge, and be able to meet the expenses 
of a residence in Providence. But unless greatly enlarged, and accompa- 
nied with opportunities of observation and practice in the public schools 
of the city, it will fall far short of meeting the wants of the female teach- 
ers of the state, and much the larger portion of ihe male teachers. It is 
to be hoped that the plan will be so far extended, as to embrace a Normal 
School under the auspices of the School Committee of Providence, and 
in connection with a Grammar, Intermediate and Primary School, as 
Schools of Practice, for female teachers, like that in successful operation 
in Philadelphia. 



MICHIGAN. 



The importance of making early and efficient provision for a sufficient 
number of well-qualified teachers, was pointed out by the Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction, in his preliminary report to the Legislature, on 
the organization of the system, in 1837. The subject was repeatedly pre- 
sented to the public in subsequent recommendations from the same offi- 
cer, until 1849, when the Legislature passed an act to establish a State 
Normal School, " the exclusive purposes of which shall be the instruction 
of persons, both male and female, in the art of teaching, and in all the 
various branches that pertain to a good common school education ; also 
to give instruction in the mechanic arts and in the arts of husbandry and 
agricultural chemistry, in the fundamental laws of the United States, 
and in what regards the rights and duties of citizens." 

For the purpose of providing the necessary expenses of building, books 
and apparatus, " ten sections of salt-spring lands," were appropriated, as 
the "Normal School Fund;" and to meet the salaries of the Principal 
and Assistants, the Board of Education, to whom the management of the 
School is intrusted, are authorized " to locate fifteen sections of salt- 
spring lands," as the " Normal School Endowment Fund," the interest 
of which only can be applied to the above purposes. 

The School has been located in Ypsilanti, the citizens of that beautiful 
village having tendered for the use of the School an eligible lot of 
ground, a subscription of $13,500 toward a suitable building, and the 
payment of the salary of the teacher of the Model School, to be com- 
posed of the children of the village. The plan of the building has been 
decided on, and is to be ready for the occupation of the School, in the 
course of 1850. 



NORMAL SCHOOLS 

IN 

BRITISH PROVINCES. 

NEW BRUNSWICK. 

By aa Act of the Provincial Legislature of New Brunswick, in 1848, 
two Training Schools were established, one at Fredericton, and the other 
at St. Johns, as an experiment, for a period of two years. In 1850, the 
act was continued in force two years longer, to give time to prepare a 
more comprehensive measure for the education of teachers. In 1850, the 
school at Fredericton was united with that at St. Johns, which is in suc- 
cessful operation under the charge of Mr. E. H. Duval. 

UPPER CANADA. 

The Provincial Normal School for Upper Canada, was established at 
Toronto, in 1846, and since its first organization has been under the im- 
mediate instruction of Professor J. B. Robertson, who was for many years 
one of the chief Inspectors of Schools, in connection with the Board of 
National Education for Ireland. In 1850, the Provincial Legislature ap- 
propriated the sum of $60,000 for procuring a site, and erecting buildings 
for the " Provincial Normal and Model School." The September num- 
ber of the Journal of Education, published at Toronto, under the editorial 
charge of Dr. Ryerson, and sent at the expense of the province to every 
school district, contains the following notice : 

" A site has been purchased, consisting of nearly eight acres of ground, 
beautifully situated in a central part of the city of Toronto, composing an entire 
square. This ground will afTord facilities for a botanical garden — the proper 
accompaniment of the Normal School lectures in vegetable physiology; also 
for agricultural experiments on a limited scale — an appropriate illustration of 
the Normal School course of instruction in agricultural chemistry and science. 

The Council of Public Instruction has also advertised for designs and plans 
for the Normal and Model School buildings, including rooms for a school of art 
and design, — offering liberal premiums, so as to insure the contributions of the 
highest architectural science and skill in the country." 

Not one of the United States has made more progress in the last ten 
years than the province of Upper Canada, in carrying into successful 
operation a system of common schools, under the auspices of the Rev. 
Egerton Ryerson, D.D., chief superintendent of the department. Dr. 
Ryerson's " Report on the Organization of a System of Elementary In- 
struction for Upper Canada," in 1846, embodies the results of nearly two 
years' observation on the practical workings of schools and school sys- 
tems in the different states of Europe, and is a valuable contribution to 
the literature of education. 



NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



AND aXHER 



INSTITUTIONS, AGENCIES, AND MEANS 



DESIGNED FOR THE 



PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. 



BY HENRY BARNARD, 

3UPERIHTKNDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS OF CONNECrjClTT. 



PART II -EUROPE. 



PIARTFORD: 

PUBLISHED BY CASE, TIFFANY AND COMPANY. 
1851. 



CIRCULAR, 



This volume, although prepared from documents originally col- 
lected, from time to time, to assist the undersigned in maturing his 
own views and plans for the improvement of the common schools of 
Connecticut, and particularly in devising modes of operating benefi- 
cially for the advancement of the teacher's profession, here and in 
Rhode Island, is not intended, exclusively or mainly, for circulation 
in this State. It embodies information which the author believes 
can be made available in organizing new, and improving existing sys- 
tems of public instruction, and particularly institutions and agencies, 
designed for the professional education of teachers, in every State of 
this Union. Its value does not consist in its conveying the specula- 
tions or limited experience of the author, but the matured views and 
varied experience of wise statesmen, educators and teachers, through 
a succession of years, and under the most diverse circumstances of 
government, society and religion. It is believed that every teacher, 
and every school officer, who will peruse these pages with any de- 
gree of attention, can gain valuable hints and reliable information, as 
to the experience of States and Institutions, which caa be turned to 
good account in his own school, and his own sphere of administra- 
tive duty. 

HENRY BARNARD, 

Superintendent of Common Schools. 

Hartford, January 13, 1851. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Whatever may be thought of the practical value of the experience 
of Germany and other European States in the organization and admin- 
istration of Systems of Public Instruction, to t' ose who are engaged 
in the work of establishing and improving Public Schools in this 
■country, no one who has reflected at all on this subject, can doubt the 
•applicability, with some modifications, of many of the institutions and 
agencies which are employed there, especially in Germany, Hol- 
land, and Switzerland, to secure the thorough professional education, 
and progressive improvement of teachers of elementary schools. 
Among these institutions and agencies are, 

1. Institutions supported by the government, wholly, or mainly 
c?evoted to a course of instruction in the theory of education as a 
science, and in methods of teaching as an art. In most of the Ger. 
man States these institutions are known as Teachers' Seminaries, 
and are not composed of children, but of teachers, or of candidates 
for admission to the profession, with one or more schools for children 
annexed but subordinate to them as schools of practice. 

Institutions of this class are not confined to training teachers for 
primary or elementary schools, but are established for the prepara- 
tion of professors and teachers in universities, and schools of second- 
ary and superior education. 

2. Courses of lectures on the principles and practice of teaching, 
to classes of young persons who have gone through the studies of the 
primary school, and who enjoy opportunities of observation and prac- 
tice as assistants, in the classification, instruction and discipline of the 
schools, in which these lectures ai*e given. These schools composed 
of children, are always located in large towns, and were originally 
denominated Normal Schools, because they were patterns, or models, 
for the imitation of the class of teachers, — the rule or law of their 
practical operation. The name was first applied in Austria, where 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

this system of training teachers still prevails, and was adopted in 
France to designate institutions which are properly Teachers' Sem- 
inaries. Through the reports and treatises of French writers on 
education, the word Normal has been introduced into the English 
language, as synonymous with Teachers' Seminaries, when used 
in connection with schools. Courses of Lectures on Didactics and 
Pedagogy are common in the Universities and Theological Schools 
of Germany, and are frequented by those who expect to teach in the 
Gymnasia, and other schools of Secondary and Superior Education, 
In some of the German States students of theology are required to 
attend these lectures as a necessary preparation for the right per- 
formance of the duties of school committees, which are always, 
although not exclusively, composed of clergymen of different denom- 
inations. 

3. A combination of the Teachers' Seminary and the Normal 
School, (in its original acceptance, of courses of lectures and prac- 
tice as assistants in model or pattern schools,) with a system of ap- 
prenticeship in the business of teaching. This is the plan of pre- 
paring teachers which has worked admirably in Holland, and has 
recently been introduced into England, under the auspices of the 
Committee of Council on Education. 

4. Institutions, composed, not of teachers or candidates for teach- 
ing, in attendance only for a limited period, ranging from six months 
to four years, as in Teachers' Seminaries and Normal Schools, but 
of members, who, having passed through a novitiate, or preparatory 
course to test their vocation, are devoting themselves for life, from 
religious motives, under a rule of celibacy and poverty, but without 
a vow, to the education of the poor. These institutions, {Ecoles- 
maire, or Mother Schools,) originated in France, and the principal 
congregations are known as Brothers of the Christian Doctrine. 
The teachers are models of industry and Christian devotion in their 
vocation, and their Schools for the poor are among the best element- 
ary schools in Europe. A modification of these institutions has been 
recently introduced at Kaisersworth, and Berlin, in Prussia. 

5. An Itinerating Normal School Agency, by which superior 
teachers, of experience and the requisite tact and talent for the busi- 
ness circulate among the schools of a particular district, not mainly 
for the purposes of inspection^ but for familiar conversation with 
teachers, and practical illustrations in their school-rooms, of improved 
methods of arranging the studies, and conducting the recitations and 
discipline of the schools. 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

6. A system of examination, by whicli only persons of the right 
spirit, character, attainments, and practical skill, are licensed to 
teach, combined with modes of school inspection, by which incompe- 
tent and unworthy members are excluded from the profession. 

7. Plans of associations of the teachers of a town or larger district^ 
for periodical conferences for mutual and professional improvement. 

8. Legal recognition of the true value of the teacher's office, by 
exemption from duties which will interfere with the full performance 
of its duties, and by provision for its permanence and adequate com- 
pensation, independent of the negligence or parsimony of parents 
and municipal authorities. 

9. A system of promotion from a less desirable school, to one 
more so in respect to studies, location, and salary, dependent not upon 
favoritism, but generally on the results of an open and impartial ex- 
amination. 

10. Access to books on the theory and practice of teaching, and to 
educational periodicals, by which the young and inexperienced 
teacher is made acquainted with the views of experienced teachers- 
in his own and other times, in his own and other countries. 

11. Facilities for the acquisition of some industrial pursuit, out of 
school hours, which will add to the happiness and emoluments of the 
teacher, without diminishing his personal influence as the educator 
of the community. 

12. A system of savings, aided and guaranteed by the govern- 
ment, but founded in habits of thrift and forecast in the teachers, by 
which provision is made for themselves in old age, or sickness, and! 
for their families, in case of death. 

By these and other institutions, agencies and means, recognized 
or established in some of the best systems of public instruction in 
Europe, the office of teacher has been greatly elevated in useful- 
ness, and in social and pecuniary consideration. It is the object of 
this volume to bring together the experience of different states in this 
most important department of the whole field of educational labor, 
as presented in official documents, and the observations of intelligent 
and trustworthy educators. For the imperfect manner in which 
the work is done, and for many omissions of historical facts, the au- 
thor can offer no other apology than the simple statement that he has 
found the time he could devote to its performance altogether too short 
and that a portion of this time has been occupied by official duties, or 
rendered useless for this purpose by ill health. 

In conclusion, it may save some misapprehension of his own views 



10 INTRODirCTION. 

to remark, that with all these agencies for the education and im- 
provement of teachers, the public schools of Europe, with their in- 
stitutions of government and society, do not turn out such practical 
and efficient men as our own common schools, acting in concert with 
our religious, social, and political institutions. A boy educated in 
a district school of New England, taught for a few months in the 
winter, by a rough, half-educated but live teacher, who is earning 
his way, by his winter's work in the school-room out of the profes- 
sion into something which will pay better, and in the summer by a 
young female, just out of the oldest class of the winter school, and 
with no other knowledge of teaching than what she may have gath- 
ered by observation of the diverse practices of some ten or twelve 
instructors, who must have taught the school under the intermittent 
and itinerating system which prevails universally in the country dis- 
tricts of New England — a boy thus taught through his school life, 
but subjected at home and abroad, to the stirring influences of a free 
press, of town and school district meetings, of constant intercourse 
with those who are mingling with the world, and in the affairs of 
public life, and beyond all these influences, subjected early to the 
wholesome discipline, both moral and intellectual, of taking care of 
himself, and the afl^airs of the house and the farm, will have more 
capacity for business, and exhibit more intellectual activity and ver- 
satility than the best scholar who ever graduated from a Prussian 
school, but whose school life, and especially the years which imme- 
diately follow, are subjected to the depressing and repressing influ- 
ences of a despotic government, and to a state of society in which 
every thing is fixed both by law and the iron rule of custom. But 
this superiority is not due to the school, but is gained in spite of the 
school. Our aim should be to make the school better, and to bring 
all the influences of home and society, of religion and free institu- 
tions, into perfect harmony with the best teaching of the best teacher. 
Hartford, January 13, 1851. 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN EUROPE, 



CONTENTS. 



• Page. 

hfTROBUCTlON, . . , . . 7 

Table of Normal Schools in Europe, . 15 

GERMANY. 

History of Education, , , , , 17 

Parochial Schools, .... 18 

Public Schools, , . . . 18 

Martin Luther, .... 19 

Augustus Herman Franke, . . 21 
Orphan-house at Halle, — first Seminary 

for Teachers, .... 24 

Basedow, ...... 25 

Pestalozzi, ..... 25 

Zeller, 29 

Centennial Birth-day of Pestalozzi, . 30 

Progress of Normal Schools, . . 31 

General features of the School Systems, 32 

Table. Normal Schools in Germany in 1848, 34 

Results of the Normal School System, . 35 

Testimony of Professor Stowe, . 35 

" President Bache, . 39 

" Mr. Mann, ... 39 

" Rev. Dr. R3^rson, , 45 

" Professor Stephens, . 46 

PRUSSIA. 

History of Primary Instruction, . . 49 

Outline of System, .... 53 

Table. State of Public Schools in 1846, 5C 
Legal Provision respecting Normal Schools, 

and the Education of Teachers, . 57 

Location and Classifica;tion of Normal Schools, 6 1 

Table I. Classification by Provinces, . 61 

Table IL Location and Number of Pupils,. 62 

Secondary or Small formal Schools, . 63 

Small Normal School at Laetadie, . 64 

Small Normal School at Pyritz, . . 66 

Superior JVormal Sahools, ... 69 

NormaJ Seminary at Potsdam, , , 69 

Normal Seminary at Bruhl, . . 79 

Normal Seminary at Eisleben, . , 90 

Normal Seminary at Weissenfels, . 91 

Seminary for City Teachers at Berlin, 99 

Seminary or Model School, . . 101 

Seminaries for Female Teachers, . . 107 

Female Education in Germany, , 107 

Siaconissen Anstalt Bt Kaisersworth, 108 



Examination of female teachers, 
Preparatory Schools, 

SAXONY. 

System of Primary Education, 
Statistics of Education, 

Normal Schools 

Fletcher Normal Seminary in Dresden, 



PxGlt, 

113 
114 



115 
117 
118 
US 



WIRTEMBERG. 

Statistics of Education in 1847, . . 121 

Outline of System of Primary Instruction, 122 

Denzel's Introductory Course for Teachers, 153 

Normal Seminary at Esslingen, . , 120 



HESSE CASSEL. 
Normal Seminary at Schluchtern, , 

NASSAU. 
Norma! Seminary at Idstein, 

HANOVER. 

Normal Seminary for Jewish Teachers, 

MECKLENBERG SCHWERIN. 
Normal Course at Rostock, . 
BAVARIA. 

Outline of System of Primary Instruction, 
Number and Location of Normal Seminaries, 
Normal Seminary at Bamberg, 
Plan of Normal Seminary by Director Jacobi, 
Educational Statistics in 1846, 

BADEN. 

Educational Statistics in 1844, 
Outline of System of Public Instruction, 

School Authorities and Inspection, 

School Attendance, . 

Internal Organization, 

Plan of Instruction, . 
Normal Seminary at Carlsruhe, 

AUSTRIA. 
System of Public Instruction, 
Primary or Popular Schools, 
Superior and Secondary, 
Inspection, . . ^ . 



laB 



125 



125 



127 
127 
128 
128 
129 



131 
131 
131 
132 
132 
134 
136 



137 
138 
138 
13S 



l3 



CONTENTS. 



147 
148 
149 
152 
153 
154 
157 
160 
163 
170 
173 
174 
176 
178 
184 
186 
179 



Paqe. 

Statisticsof Education in Austria, . 142 

Elementary Education, . . . 142 

Superior and Secondary Education, . 143 

Academies and Boarding Schools, . 144 
Academies of Science, Literature and the 

Fine Arts, 1-14 

Normal School System of Austria, . 145 

SWITZERLAND. 

History and Condition of Primary Education, 

Compulsory Attendance, . 

Normal Schools, .... 

Course of Instruction, 

System of Inspection, 

Results of the System on Pauperism, . 
Educational Establishment at Hofwyl, . 
Labors, and Principles of Fellenberg, 
Normal Course at Hofwyl, 
Berne Cantonal Society of Teachers, 
Normal School at Kruitzlingen— Turgovia, 

Educational Views of Vehrli, 

Religious Education of the Poor, 

Course of Instruction, 
Normal School at Lausanne, . 
Normal School at Lucern, 
Normal School at Kussnacht, 

HOLLAND. 

History of Primary Instruction, . . 187 

Outline of System, .... 188 
Plan of School Inspecction commended by 

Cuvier, Cousin, Hickson, NichoUs, Bache, 189 

Regulations respecting Inspection, . 192 

Regulations respecting Examination . 192 

Regulations as to general order of Schools, 197 

Regulations respecting Religious Instruction, 198 

Table. Primary Education in 1846, . 199 

Normal School at Haarlem, . . • 201 



BELG1UIV|. 
State of Primary Education, 

FRANCE. 
History of Primary Education, 

Prior to the Revolution, 

Ordinance of National Convention, . 

Action of Napoleon 

Government of Revolution of 1830, . 

Report of Cousin on Schools in Germany, 

Remarks of Guizot on the Bill, . 

Society for Elementary Instruction, . 

Educational Periodicals, . 
Outline of System of Public Instruction, 

Department of Public Instruction, 

University of France, 

Primary Instruction, 
Governmental Appropriations for Education, 
Educational Statistics for 1843, 
Table I. Number ofSchools embraced in the 
University of France, . 
II. Primary Schools in 1843, 

III. Distribution of Primary Schools 

according to Sects, 

IV. Number of Scholars and Teachers, 



199 



205 
205 
205 
205 
206 
207 
211 
214 
214 
215 
215 
215 
217 
219 
220 

220 
221 

221 

222 



Page. 

Table V. Classes for Adults, Evening Schools, 
and Infant Schools, 
VL Normal Schools, &c., in 1843, 
VII. Secondary Schools in 1843, 
History of Normal Schools in France, 
Reportof Guizot in 1833, . 
Report of Cousin, 



Plan of Organization proposed by Cousin, 227 

Outline of System of Normal Schools, . 225 

Conferences or Associations of Teachers, 237 

Libraries for the use of Teachers, . . 239 
iVIeans of Improving the Condition of 

Teachers, 243 

Normal School of the Christian Brothers 249 

Normal School at Versailles and Dijon, . 255 

Normal School for Teachers of Colleges » 

and Secondary Schools, . . . 259 

IRELAND. 

History of National Education, 
Legislation of Henry VIII., 
Protestant Charter Schools, . 
Kildare Place Society, . . 
Commission of English Parliament, 
Commissioners of National Education, 
Results of the doings of the Commissioners, 

1. Attendance of Protestant and Catholic 

children, 

2. Teachers, . . . . • 
3 Schools of different kinds. Evening 
Schools, Industrial Schools, Agricultural 
School. School Libraries, . 

4. School-houses, 

5. National Series of School Books, 

6. System of Inspection, . 

7. Parliamentary Appropriations, 

8. Influence on England, . 
Training Department and Model Schools i 

Dublin 

General I-esson and Practical Rules, 
Model Farm at Glasnevin, 
List of Lectures on Agriculture, 
Agriculture in Ordinary Schools, . 

ENGLAND, 
History of Elementary Education, . 
Committee of Council on Education, 

School-houses 

Normal School buildings, . 

Normal School pupils. 

Teachers' Salaries, . . • • 

Apprentice Pupils, .... 

Supply of School-books, 

Inspection of Schools, 

Condition of Grants, . . . 
Normal School of British and Foreign School 

Society, 

Normal Department for Young Men, . 

Course of Conversational Reading, 

Questions to test a School, . 

Model School 

Female Department of Normal School, 

Hints to Candidates for Admission, . 

Normal and Model Schools of the Home 

and Infant School Society, 

Qualifications of Candidates, 



CONTENTS. 



14 



Page. 

Course of Instruction for Teachers, 333 

Graduated Course in the Model School, 339 

St. Mark's College, or Training Establish- 
ment for Masters for National Schools, 345 
General Plan, by Rev. Derwent Coleridge, 346 
Musical Instruction, .... 352 
Industrial Occupations, . . . 354 

Schools of Practice 356 

Oral Teaching 360 

Battersea Normal School, . . . 363 

Condition of the Laboring Poor, . 363 

Training of Pauper Children, . . 364 
Results of an Examination of the Normal 

Schools of Switzerland, . . . 366 

External Training of the Pupils, . 369 

Gymnastic Exercises, . . . 370 

Excursions into the Country, . . 371 

Household Life, .... 372 

Intellectual Training, . . . 373 

Phonic Method of Teaching Reading, 376 

Arithmetic, 378 

Elements of Mechanics, . . . 379 

Geography, 379 

Rrawina 380 

Vocal Music, 382 



Paqe. 

Lectures on Pedagogics, . . . 383 

Motives and Habits, .... 383 

Training of Teachers for Large Towns, 384 

Formation of Character, . . . 386 

Religious Life 389 

Theory and Practice of Teaching, . 390 

Resultsof the Experiment,. . . 392 

Chester Diocesan Training College, . 395 

Commercial and Agricultural School, 402 

Model School 402 

Statistics of the Diocese, . . . 403 

Industrial Training, .... 407 

Regularity of Attendance, . . 412 

Normal Schools for Female Teachers, . 415 
VVhiteland Institution for School Mis- 
tresses, . . . . . . 415 

Salisbury Diocesan Institute, . . 416 

SCOTLAND. 



History of Parochial Schools, 
Glasgow and Edinburgh Normal Schools, 
Syllabus of Lectures on the Theory and 
Art of Teaching, .... 



417 

427 



434 



TABLE 



NUMBER OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN THE DIFFERENT STATES OF EUROPE. 



Prnssia 

Saxony, 

Austria, ...... 

Bavaria, 

Wirtemberg, .... 

Hanover, 

Baden, 

Hesse-Cassel, .... 
Hesse-Darmstadt, . . 

Anhalt, 

Saxe-Cobnrg-Gotha, . 
Saxe-Meininger, . . . 
Saxe Weimar, . . . 

Oldenburg, 

Holstein 

Nassau, 

Brunswick, 

Luxemburg, .... 

Lippe, 

Mecklenburg Schwerin, 
Mecklenburg Strelitz, . 

Lubec, 

Bremen, 

Hamburg, 

Frankfort, 

Holland, 

Belgium, 

Denmark, 

Sweden, 

France, 

England and Wales, . 

Scotland, 

Ireland, 



51 


1735 


10 


1785 


11 


1775 


9 


1777 


7 


1757 


7 


1750 


4 


1768 


3 




2 




3 




o 


1779 


1 




2 




2 




1 


1788 


1 




1 




1 




1 




1 




1 




1 




1 




1 




2 


1816 


2 




2 




1 




97 


1808 


23 


1840 


2 


1835 


1 


1836 


264 





GERMANY. 



To Germany,* as a whole, as one people, and not to any particular 
state of Germany, as now recognized on the map of Europe, belongs the 
credit of first thoroughly organizing a system of public education under 
the administration of the civil power. Here, too, education first assumed 
the form and name of a science, and the art of teaching and training 
children was first taught systematically in seminaries established for this 
special purpose. 

But not to Germany, or to any one people or any civil authority any 
where, but to the Christian Church, belongs the higher credit of first in- 
stituting the public school, or rather the parochial school, for the elemen- 
tary education of the poor, which was the earliest form which this mighty 
element of modern society assumed. After the third century of the 
Christian era, whenever a Christian church was planted, or religious in- 
stitutions established, there it was the aim of the higher ecclesiastical 
authorities to found, in some form, a school for the nurture of children and 
youth for the service of religion and duties of society. Passing by the 
ecclesiastical and catechetical schools, we find, as early as 529, the council 
of Vaison strongly recommending the establishment of village schools. 
In 800 a synod at Mayence ordered that the parochial priests should have 

* Mr. W. E. liickson, in his valuable pamphlet, entitled '■'■Dutch and German Schools,'- 
published in London in ]840, well says : 

" We must bear in mind that the German states, although under different governments, are 
not nations as distinct from, and independent of each other, as France and Spain, or as Russia 
and Great Britain. Each of the German states is influenced more or less by every other ; the 
whole lying in close juxta-position, and being linked together by the bond of a common lan- 
guage and literature. The boundary line that separates Prussia from Hesse on one side, or 
from Saxony on another, is not more defined than that of a county or parish in England. A 
stone in a field, or a post painted with stripes, in a public road, informs the traveler that he is 
passing from one state into another, that these territorial divisions make no change in the great 
characteristics of the people ; whatever the name of the state, or the color of the stripes, the 
people, with merely provincial differences, are the same : from the Baltic to the Adriatic, they 
are still Germans. " The national spirit may always be gathered from the national songs, and in 
Germany the most popular are those whicli speak of all Germans as brothers, and ail German 
states asbelonging to one common country, as may be gathered from the following passage of 
a song of IVI. Arndt : — 

"What country does a German claim? Adorn the landscape of the Rhine 1 

His Fatherland ; know'st thou its name'? Oh no, oh no, not there, alone, 

Is it Bavaria, — Saxony t The land, with pride, we call our own, 

An inland state, or on the seal Not there. A German's heart or mind 

There, on the Baltic's plains of sand t Is to no narrow realm confined. 

Or mid the Alps of Switzerland? Where'er he hears his native tongue, 

Austria, the Adriatic shores 1 When hymns of praise to God are sung, 

Or where the Prussian eagle soars f There is his Fatherland, and he 

Or where hills covered by the vine, Has but one country— Germany !" 



18 HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 

schools in the towns and villages, that the little children of all the faith- 
ful might learn letters from them ; " let them receive and teach these 
with the utmost charity, that they themselves may shine as the stars for 
ever. Let them receive no remuneration from their scholars, unless what 
the parents through charity may voluntarily offer." A council at Rome, 
in 836, under Eugene II., ordained that there should be three kinds of 
schools established throughout Christendom ; episcopal, parochial in 
towns and villages, and others wherever there could be found place and 
opportunity. In 836, Lothaire I. promulgated a decree to establish eight 
public schools in some of the principal cities of Italy, " in order that oppor- 
tunity may be given to all, and that there may be no excuse drawn from 
poverty and the difficulty of repairing to remote places." The third 
council of Lateran, in 1179, says: " Since the Church of God, as a pious 
mother, is bound to provide that opportunity for learning should not be 
withdrawn from the poor, who are without help from patrimonial riches, 
be it ordained, that in every cathedral there should be a master to teach 
both clerks and poor scholars gratis." This decree was enlarged and 
again enforced by Innocent III. in the year 1215. Hence, in all colleges 
of canons, one bore the title of the scholastic canon. The council of 
Lj'-ons, in 1215, decreed "that in all cathedral churches, and others pro- 
vided with adequate revenues, there should be established a school and a 
teacher by the bishop and chapter, who should teach the clerks and 
other poor scholars gratis in grammar, and for this purpose a stipend 
should be assigned him."* 

Such was the origin of the popular school, as now generally under- 
etood — every Avhere the offspring, and companion of the Church ; sharing 
with her, in large measure, the imperfections which attach to all new 
institutions and all human instrumentalities ; encountering peculiar diffi- 
culties from the barbarism of the age and people through which it passed, 
and which it was its mission to enlighten ; and every where crippled by 
insufficient endowments, unqualified teachers, and the absence of all text 
books, and necessary aids to instruction and illustration. The discoverj?' 
of the art of printing, in 1440, and the consequent multiplication of books at 
prices which brought them more within reach of the great mass of the 
people ; the study and use of the vernacular language by scholars and 
divines, and particularly its employment in the printing of the Bible, 
hymns, popular songs, school books, and in religious instruction gener- 
ally; the recognition by the municipal authorities of cities, and at a later 
period by the higher civil power, of the right, duty and interest of the 
state, in connection with, or independent of the church, to provide liberally 
and efficiently for the education of all children and youth; and above all^ 
the intense activity given to the human mind by the religious movement 
of Luther, in the early part of the sixteenth century ; the assertion of the 
right of private judgment in the interpretation of the scriptures ; the break- 
ing up of' existing ecclesiastical foundations, and the diversion of funds 

* Digby's Mores CathoUci. 



HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. jg 

from religious to educational purposes, — all these causes, combined with 
the general progress of society, co-operated to introduce an advantageous 
change in the organization, administration, instruction and discipline ol 
the popular school. But the progress actually made from year to year, 
and century even to century, was slow, and after three hundred years of 
effort, there is much yet to be done even in those states and communities 
which have accomplished the most toward improving the outward or- 
ganization and instrumentalities of the schools, and above all its internal 
life in the improved qualification and position of the teachers — for as is 
the teacher, so is the school. A brief reference to a few of the more 
prominent names in the history of popular education in Germany, and 
through Germany, of Modern Europe, is all that can be attempted at 
this time and in this connection. Among these names stands prominent 
that of Martin Luther. 

In a letter to the Elector of Saxony, in the year 1526, Luther says:* 

"Since we are all required, and especially the magistrates, above all other 
things, to educate the youth who are born and are growing up among us, and 
to train them up in the fear of God and in the ways of virtue, it is needful that 
we have schools and preachers and pastors. If the parents will not reform, 
they must go their way to ruin, but if the young are neglected, and left without 
education, it is the fault of the state ; and the effect will be that the country 
will swarm with vile and lawless people, so that our safely, no less than the 
comm.and of God requireth us to foresee and ward off the evil." He maintains 
in that letter that the government, " as the natural guardian of all the young," 
has the right to compel the people to support schools. " What is necessary to 
the well-being of a state, that should be supplied by those who enjoy the privi- 
lege of such state Now nothing is more necessary than the training of those 
who are to cotoe after us and bear rule. If the people are too poor to pay tiie 
expense, and are already burdened with taxes, then the monastic funds, which 
were originally given for such purposes, are to be employed in that way to re- 
lieve the people." The cloisters were abandoned in many cases, and the difii- 
cult question, what was to be done with their funds, Luther settled in this judi- 
cious manner. How nearly did he approach to the policy now so extensively 
adopted in this country, of supporting schools partly by taxation and partly by 
funds appropriated for that purpose. 

In 1524 he wrote a remarkable production, entitled " An Address to the 
Common Councils of all the Cities of Germany in behalf of Christian Schools," 
from which a few passages may here be extracted. After some introductory 
remarks, he comes directly to his point, and says to his countrymen collec- 
tively : 

" I entreat you, in God's behalf and that of the poor youth, not to think so 
lightly of this matter as many do. It is a grave and serious thing, affecting 
the interest of the kingdom of Christ, and of all the world, that we apply our- 
selves to the work of aiding and instructing the young If so 

much be expended every year in weapons of war, roads, dams, and countless 
other things of the sort for the safety and prosperity of a city; why should not 
we expend as much for the beneht of the poor, ignorant youth, to provide them 
with skillful teachers 1 God hath verily visited us Germans in mercy and 
given us a truly golden 5'ear. For we now have accomplished and learned 
young men, adorned with a knowledge of literature and art, who could be of 
great service if employed to teach the young. . . . 

Even if the parents were qualified, and were also inclined to teach, they have 
so much else to do in their business and household affairs that they can not find 
the time to educate their children. Thus there is a necessity that public teach- 

* The foUowin? extracts are taken from Dr. Sears' "Life of Martin Luther," published bv 
the American Sunday School Union. 



20 HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 

ers be provided. Otherwise each one would have to teach his own children, 
which would be for the common people too great a burden. Many a fine boy- 
would be neglected on account of poverty; and many an orphan would suifer 
from the negligence of guardians. And those who have no children would 
not trouble themselves at all about the whole matter. Therefore it becometh 
rulers and magistrates to use the greatest care and diligence in respect to the 
education of the young. 

The diligent and pious teacher who properly instructeth and traineth the 
young, can never be fully rewarded with money. If I were to leave my oflice 
as preacher, 1 would next chose that of schoolmaster, or teacher of boys; for I 
know that, next to preaching, this is the greatest, best, and most useful voca- 
tion ; and I am not quite sure which of the two is the better; for it is hard to 
reform old sinners, with whom the preacher has to do, while the young tree 
can be made to bend without breaking." 

In 1527, a visitation was made of the churches and schools of the elec- 
torate of Saxony, in vvhicii more than thirty men were employed a whole 
year. The result in respect to education was, that tlie " Saxon school 
system," as it was called, Avas drawn up by the joint labors of Luther and 
Melancthon ; and thus the foundation was laid for the magnificent organ- 
ization of schools to which Germany owes so much of her present fame. 

In a letter to Margrave George, of Bradenburg, July 18, 1529: — 

, " I will tell you what Melancthon and myself, upon mature consideration, 
think best to be done. First, we think the cloisters and foundations may con- 
tinue to stand till their inmates die out Secondly, it would be 

exceedingly well to establish in one or two places in the principality a learned 
school, in which shall be taught, not only the Holy Scriptures, but law, and all 
the arts, from whence preachers, pastors, clerks, counselors, &c., may be 
taken for the whole principality. To this object should the income of the 
cloisiers and other religious foundations be applied, so as to give an honorable 
support to learned men ; iwo in theology, two in law, one in medicine, one in 

mathematics, and four or five for grammar, logic, rhetoric, &*c 

Thirdly, in all the towns and villages, good schools for children should be es- 
tablished, from which ihose who are adapted to higher studies might be taken 
and trained up for the public." 

Under these instructions and appeals a school law was adopted in 
Wirtemberg in 1559, and modified in 1565; in Saxony in 1560, and 
improved in 1580; in Hesse in 1565; and in Brandenberg, still earlier; 
which recognized and provided for the classification, inspection, and sup- 
port of pubhc schools on substantially the same plan which prevails to 
this day throughout Germany. 

The pedagogical work of Luther — his labors to improve the method of 
instruction — were continued by Trotzendorf,* in Goldberg, from 1530 to 
1556; by Sturm, in Strasbourg, from 1550 to 1589; by Neander. in Ile- 
feld, fiom 1570 to 1595, whose schools were all Normal Schools, in the 
original acceptation of the terra, 'pattern or model schools, of their time. 
They were succeeded by Wolfgang Ratich, born at Wilster, in Holstein, 
in 1571 ; by Christopher Helwig, born near Frankfort, in 1581 ; and by 
Amos Comenius, born at Comna, in Moravia, in 1592 ; who all labored, 
by their writings, and by organizing schools and courses of instruction, to 
disseminate improved methods of teaching. Comenius was invited by 
an act of parliament in 1631, to visit England for the purpose of intro- 

• Trotzendorf practiced the monitorial system of Instruction two hundred and fifty years be- 
fore Ur. Bell or Joseph Lancaster set up their claims for its discovery. 



fflSTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 21 

ducing his method into the public institutions of that country. But in- 
ternal commotions interrupted and ultimately defeated his plans. 

In 1618, the religious war — known as the Thirty Years^ war — broke out 
in Germany, and for an entire generation swept over the land, wasting 
harvest fields, destroying cities, tearing fathers from the protection ot 
their families, scattering teachers and schools, and arresting the progress 
of all spiritual and educational improvement. At the close of the war, and 
in some of the smaller states during its progress, the civil government be- 
gan to take effectual steps to secure the attendance of children at school, 
by making it compulsory on parents, on penalty of fine and imprisonment 
for neglect, to send them during a certain age. This was first attempted 
in Gotha, in 1643 ; in Heildesheim, in 1663; and in Prussia, in 1669 ; and 
Calemberg, in 1681. About this period, two men appeared, Philip J. 
Spener. born in the Alsace in 1635, and Augustus Herman Franke, born 
at LCibeck in 1663 ; who, the first by the invention of the catechetic 
method, and the last, a pupil of the former, by the foundation of the 
orphan-house at Halle in 1606, were destined to introduce a new era in 
the history of education in Germany. 

The history of the orphan-house at Halle, is a beautiful illustration of 
practical Christian charily, and the ever-extending results of educational 
labor. While pastor of Glaucha, a suburb of Halle, he Avas in the habit 
of distributing bread to the poor, with whose poverty and ignorance he 
was equally distressed. To relieve at once their physical and spiritual 
destitution, he invited old and young into his house, and while he distributed 
alms, he at the same time gave oral and catechetical instruction in the 
principles of the Christian faith. To benefit the orphan children still 
more, he took a few into his family in 1694, and to avail himself of the 
gifts of the charitable, he resorted to the following expedient, according 
to his biographer. Dr. Guerike : 

"He caused a box lo be fa.stened up in the parlor of the parsonage-house, 
and wrote over it, ' Whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have 
need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwellelh the 
love of God in him V (1 John iii. 17,) and underneath, ' Every one according as 
he purposefh in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly or of Keressity; for 
God loveth a cheerful giver,' (2 Cor. ix. 17.) This box, which Was destined 
for the reception of the casual gifts of those who visited Franke, Was fixed up 
at the commencement of 1695; and not in vain. The passage (\^ Cor. ix. 8,) 
had fallen in his way, a short time before this circumstance, and mVw occurred 
the Incident related in his letter to Schade. ' This,' says he, 'sensed to show 
me, how God is able to make us abound in every good work.' \ 

' After the poor's-box had been fixed up in my dwelling about a qliarter of a 
year,' relates Franke, ' a certain person piit, at one time, four dollaiy. and six- 
teen groschen into it. On taking this sum into my hand, I exclaimed with 
great liberty of faith, — This is a considerable sum, with which somethiing really 
good must be accomplished; I will commence a school with it for the poor. 
Without conferring, therefore, with flesh and blood, and acting undei\ the im- 
pulse of faith, I made arrangement for the purchase of books to the amount of 
two dollars, and engaged a poor student to instruct the poor children for a couple 
of hours daily, promising to give him six groschen weekly for so doing, \ui the 
hope that God would meanwhile grant more; since in this manner a coupkt^of 
dollars would be spent in eight weeks.' 

Franke, who was ready to offer up whatever he had to the service of his 
neighbor, fixed upon the ante-chamber of his study, for the school-room of the 



22 HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 

poor children, who began regularly to receive instruction at Easter, 1695. In 
this school-room, he caused a second box to be fixed up, with the inscription, 
' For the expenses of the instruction of the children, needful books, &c.,' and un- 
derneath, ' He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth to the Lord ; and that which 
he hath given, will he pay him again,' (Prov. xix. 17.) 

At Whitsuntide, Franke was visited by some friends, who were much pleased 
at his efforts in behalf of the poor, to which they contributed a few dollars. 
Others also gave small donations, from time to time, to the school-box. Soon 
after Whitsuntide, when some of the townspeople saw how regularly the 
children of the poor received instruction, they became desirous of sending their 
children likewise to the same teacher, and offered to pay him weekly a gros- 
chen for each child ; so that the teacher now received sixteen groschen weekly 
for a five-hours' daily instruction. The number of his scholars, that summer, 
amounted to between fifty and sixty, of which the poor, besides gratuitous in- 
struction, also received alms, twice or thrice a-week, to incite them to attend 
school the more willingly. Donations in money, and linen, for shirts for tlie 
poor children, began now to arrive from other places. 

About Whitsuntide of the same year, Franke laid also the first foundation 
lor what was subsequently called the royal school. The widow of a nobleman 
desired him to send her a domestic tutor for her own, and one of her friend's 
children. He found no one who was sufficiently far advanced in his studies, 
and therefore proposed to the parents, to send their children to Halle, and that 
he would then provide for their education, by able teachers and guardians. 
The parents agreed to this plan ; and a few months afterward, an additional 
number of youths were sent, and thus originated the seminary above mentioned, 
which, in 1709, consisted of an inspector, twenty-three teachers, and seventy- 
two scholars ; and in 17U, by means of Franke's exertions, had a building ap- 
propriated exclusively to it. 

In the summer of the same year, 1695, Franke unexpectedly and unsolicit- 
edly received a very considerable contribution ; for a person of rank wrote to 
hitn Avith the offer of five hundred dollars, for the purpose of distribution among 
the poor, and especially among the indigent students. This money was shortly 
afterward paid over to him. He then selected twenty poor students, whom he 
assisted with a weekly donation of four, eight, or twelve groschen; 'and this,' 
says he, ' was in reality the origin of the poor students' participating to the pres- 
ent hour, in the benefits of the orphan-house.' 

In the autumn there was no longer sutficient room in the parsonage for the 
increasing number of scholars ; he therefore hired a school-room of one of his 
neighbors, and a second in the beginning of the Avinter. He then divided the 
scholars into two classes, and provided a separate teacher for the children of 
the townspeople, and another for the children of the poor. Each teacher gave 
four hours instruction daily, and received a guilder weekly, besides lodging 
and firing gratis. 

But Franke was soon made to see, that many a hopeful child was deprived, 
when out of school, of all the benefit he received in it. The idea therefore 
occurred to him, in the autumn of 1695, to undertake the entire charge and edu- 
cation of a limited number of children ; ' and this,' says he, ' was the first in- 
citement I felt, and the first idea of the erection of an orphan-house, even before 
I possessed the smallest funds for the purpose. On mentioning this plan to 
some of my friends, a pious individual felt induced to fund the sum of five 
hundred dollars for that purpose,— twenty-five dollars for the interest on which 
were to be paid over every Christmas, which has also been regularly received. 
On reflecting upon this instance of the divine bounty, I wished to seek out some 
poor orphan child, who might be supported by the yearly interest. On this, 
four fatherless and motherless children, all of the same family, were brought to 
me. I ventured, in confidence upon God, to receive the whole four; but as one 
of them was taken by some other good people, only three were left ; but a fourth 
soon appeared in the place of the one that had been taken. I took therefore 
these four; placed them with religious people, and gave them weekly half a 
dollar for the bringing up of each. On this, it happened to me, as is generally 
the case, that when we venture to give a groschen to the poor in faith, we feel 
afterward no hesitation in venturing a dollar upon the same principle. For 
after having once begun in God's name, to receive a few poor orphans without 
any human prospect of certain assistance, (for the interest of the five hundred 



HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 



23 



dollars was not sufficient to feed and clothe a single one,) I boldly left it to the 
Lord to make up for whatever might be deficient. Hence the orphan-house was 
by no means commenced and founded upon any certain sum in hand, or on the 
assurances of persons of rank to take upon themselves the cost and charges, or 
upon any thing of a similar nature, as was subsequently reported, and as some 
were inclined to suppose; but solely and simply in reliance on the living God 
in heaven. 

' The day after I had undertaken the charge of the four orphans above-men- 
tioned, two more were added; the next day, another; two days afterward, a 
fourth, and one more after the lapse of a week. So that, on the iGth November, 
1695, there were already nine, who were placed with pious people.' He fixed 
upon George Henry Neubauer, a student of divinity, to have the oversight of 
their education and their bringing up. ' Meanwhile,' continues he, ' the faithful 
God and Father of the fatherless, who is able to do abundantly above what we 
can ask or think, came so powerfully to my aid, that foolish reason could never 
have expected it. For he moved the hearts of those persons of rank, who had 
given me the five hundred dollars already mentioned, to present me with an 
additional sum of a thousand dollars in the beginning of the winter. And in 
the middle of the winter, another person of rank was incited to send me three 
hundred dollars to enable me to continue my attention to the poor. Another 
individual gave a hundred dollars, and others gave donations of smaller sums.' 

Franke had hitherto distributed the money destined for the poor students 
weekly ; but in 1G9G, the idea occurred to him, instead of a weekly allowance, 
to give them dinner gratuitously ; ' in the firm confidence in God, that he would 
from time to time send such supplies, as to enable this arrangement to be con- 
tinued.' By this he expected to be of greater service to the poor students ; he 
could also, in this manner, become better acquainted with them, and possess a 
better insight into their life and conduct ; and lastly, restrain the applications 
of the less need}', ' who would gladly have been more delicately fed.' Two 
open tables were therefore provided— each for twelve poor students; and that 
one thing might assist the other, he selected the teachers of the charity-school 
from them. This was the origin of the teachers' seminary, which afterward 
gradually arose out of it. 

The schools of the children of the townspeople who paid a certain sum for 
their instruction, though inadequate to the expense, were separated from the 
school for the poor, at the request of the townspeople themselves; and in Sep- 
tember, 1697, another school was added for those tradesmen's children who 
were instructed in the elements of superior science. About this time also, more 
classes were required in the orphan school, on account of the increased number 
\ of the pupils. The boys and girls received separate instruction, and when any 
of the former manifested abilities, they were again separated from the rest, and 
instructed in languages and the sciences by particular teachers. In May, 1699, 
Franke united this class of the orphan children with the class of the trades- 
men's children, who likewise received superior instruction. These arrange- 
ments for imparling a more learned education, show us the rudiments from 
whence the Latin school or Gymnasium afterward developed itself in Franke's 
institutions, which in 1709 was attended by two hundred and fifty-six children, 
of whom sixty-four were orphans, divided into seven classes ; and in 1730, 
by more than five hundred pupils. 

At the time of his death, the Orphan House, or HalUsche Waisen- 
haus, embraced all the institutions which now belong to it. 

1. The Orphan Asylum^ established in 1694, in which over 5,000 or- 
phans had been educated, up to 1838, gratuitously. Such of the boys as 
manifest pecuhar talent, are prepared for the university, and supported 
there. 

2. The Royal Pcedagogium, founded in 1696, for the education of 
children of rich and noble families. Up to 1839, 2,850 individuals had 
been educated in this boarding institution. The profits of this school are 
paid over to the orphan asylum. 



24 



HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 



3. The Latin School, established in 1697, for pupils from abroad, of 
less wealthy condition than the former, and for boys of the city of Halle. 

4. The German School, for boys and girls whose parents do not wish 
to give them a classic education. 

These several schools number from 3.000 to 4,000 pupils,* of every age, 
and in every study. Besides these schools there are other features in the 
institution. 

5. The Canstein Bible Press, established in 1712, to furnish the Bible 
at a cheap rate. The profits on the sale of an edition are applied to 
diminish the expense of the next edition. 

6. A Librartj, commenced by Franke by setting apart his own books 
for the use of his schools, and which now number 20,000 volumes. 

7. An Apothecarifs Shop, commenced by Franke as a medicine chest 
for the poor, and the profit of which, after furnishing the wants of the 
orphan-house, are applied to the support of the institution. 

8. A Bonk Establishment, in which the classics, and school books, are 
published at a low price, not only for the institution, but for the trade 
generally. 

9. A house for widows. 

We have dwelt on the labors of Franke, because he proved his faith in 
God by his works, and because he was an educator in the largest and 
best sense of that designation. 

According to his biographer, the first teachers' class was founded by 
Franke in 1697, by providing a table or free board for such poor students 
as stood in need of assistance, and selecting, a few years later, out of the 
whole number, twelve who exhibited the right basis of piety, knowledge, 
skill and desire for teaching, and constituting them his " Seminarium 
Prseceptoruni;" Teachers' Seminary. These pupil teachers received 
separate instruction for two years, and obtained a practical knowledge of 
methods, in the classes of the several schools. For the assistance thus 
rendered they bound themselves to teach for three years in the institution 
after the close of their course. In 1704, according to Raumer, this plan 
was matured, and the supply of teachers for all the lower classes were 
drawn from this seminary. But besides the teachers trained in this 
branch of Franke's great establishment, hundreds of others, attracted by 
the success of his experiment, resorted to Halle, from all parts of Europe, 
to profit by the organization, spirit, and method of his various schools. 
Among the most distinguished of his pupils and disciples, may be named, 
Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the communities of United Brethren, 
or Moravians, in Herrnhut, in 1722; Steinmetz, who erected a Normal 
School in Klosterbergen, in 1730; Hecker, the founder of the first Real 

• It is interesting to a visitor to remark in the chief cities of Germany, during cei-tain hours 
the silence of tlie streets, withi tlieir entire desertion by children, and the contrast of the change 
produced by the clock striking twelve. The road and footway then suddenly swarm with 
children, carrying books and slates, and returning from the studies of ttie morning. The most 
striking sight of the kind we ever witnessed was at Halle, where, as we approached a large 
educational establishment, called the "Hallische Waisenhaus," the whole of its juvenile in- 
mates, 3.000 in number, burst forth into the street, and filling up the entire roadway, formed 
an unbroken stream of a quarter of a mile in length.— if icAson's Butch and German Schools. 



HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 25 

School in Berlin, to which a seminary for teachers was attached in 1748 ; 
Rambalt, who lectured in the Universities in Jena and Giessen in pedagogic, 
and reformed the schools in Hesse-Darmstadt ; Felbiger, wlio reorgan- 
ized the schools of Silesia, and afterward those of Austria; — these, and 
others scarcely less distinguished, were among the most eminent and suc- 
cessful teachers of the day, and Avere known as the school of Pietists. 

The educational school of Franke was followed by Basedow, (born at 
Hamburg, in 1723,) Campe, and Salzman, who acquired for themselves 
a European reputation by the Philanthropinum, founded by the former at 
Dessau, in 1781. 

This institution gave its name to the school of educationists, known 
as Philanthropinic, and which prevails at this day in some sections of Ger- 
many. Its earliest development on the continent was made by Rous- 
seau, in his " Emile," and by John Locke, in England, in his '• Thoughts 
on Education." Its great aim was the formation of a practical charac- 
ter, and this was to be accomplished by following the indications of na- 
ture. The body, as well as the mind, was to be hardened and invigora- 
ted, and prepared to execute with energy the designs of the mind. The 
discipline of the family and school was softened by constant appeals to 
the best principles in the child's nature. Particular attention was paid to 
instruction in language, music, and the laws and objects of nature. Many 
of these principles became engrafted on to the teachers of Normal Schools, 
and through their pupils were introduced into the common schools. 

About this time appeared Henry Pestalozzi, who followed in the 
track of the Philanthropinic School, and by his example and writings, dif- 
fused a new spirit among the schools of primary instruction, all over Eu- 
rope. Although born in Switzerland, at Zurich, in 1746, and althoiigh 
his personal labors were confined to his native country, and their immedi- 
ate influence was weakened by many defects of character, still his gen- 
eral views of education were so sound and just, that they are now adopted 
by teachers who never read a word of his life or writings, and by many 
who never heard of his name. They have become the common property 
of teachers and educators all over the world. A brief notice* of the lead- 
ing principles of the system, which now bears his name, and which has 
moulded the entire character of the schools of Germany, during the last 
half century, can not be deemed irrelevant. 

" The father of Pestalozzi, who was a physician, died when he was quite 
young, and his early education was left to his mother, and an old domesiic of 
the family, until he was of an age to pass into the grammar school of Zurich. 
In .consequence of such an education, corresponding entirely to his natural dis- 
position, he retained a remarkable gentleness and simplicity of manners, which 
continued through his long life, and produced that agreeable mixture of manly 
and female excellence, which rendered him peculiarly interesting to children,,. 
to whom his person was unattractive. Oppressive treatment at school, and 
misapprehension of his views in riper years, gave him, however, a keen sense 
of justice, which roused him to vindicate the cause of the oppressed among the 
lower classes of the people, and often made his language as a writer, bitter and 
sarcastic. 

• Abr'dgert from an article by William C. Woodbridge, in the Annals of Education, for Janu- 
ary, 1847. 



26 HISTORY OP PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. V 

Pestalozzi first lived in the midst of the people, in order that he might under- 
fitand their misery, and endeavor to discover its source. He believed that he 
found it in the want of an observation of nature and mankind — in the absence 
of spiritual elevation and religious sentiment — in the prejudice, thoughtless- 
ness, levity and disorderly conduct which were the natural results, and the 
distrust, and obstinate and revengeful disposition which necessarily followed 
toward those who profited by their weaknesses, or punished their offenses. 
He believed that a good education for the children of the people was the only 
means of remedying this evil. The ravages of war had left a multitude of des- 
titute orphans in the small cantons of Switzerland. His first attempt to carry 
his benevolent plan' into execution, was in collecting a number of these poor 
children at Stanz, devoting himself to their instruction and care in the sacri- 
fice of most of the comforts of life, and providing for their support from his own 
resources, or from the charity which he solicited from others. Here, he la- 
bored to discover the true and simple means of education. He treated his pu- 
pils with uniform sympathy and tenderness, and thus attempted to awaken love 
and confidence in their hearts, and to sow the seed of every good feeling. He 
therefore aasumed faitk a7id love as the only true foundation of a system of edu- 
cation. 

He subsequently established a school in more regular form in Burgdorf, in 
the canton of Berne, to which his benevolence and talents attracted a number 
of fellow-laborers. Here he endeavored to ascertain the principles which 
should govern the development of the infant faculties, and the proper period 
for the commencement and completion of each course of instruction in this 
view. 

As the result of his investigations, Pestalozzi assumed as a fundamental prin- 
ciple, that education, in order to fit man for his destination, must proceed ac- 
cording to the laws of nature. To adopt the language of his followers — that it 
must not act as an arbitrary mediator between the child and nature, between 
man and God, pursuing its own artificial arrangements, instead of the indica- 
tions of Providence — that it should assist the course of natural development, in- 
stead of doing it violence — that it should watch, and follow its progress, instead 
of attempting to mark out a path agreeably to a preconceived system. 

I. In view of this principle, he did not choose, like Basedow, to cultivate the 
mind in a material way, merely by inculcating and engrafting every thing rela- 
ting to external objects, and giving mechanical skill. He sought, on the con- 
trary, to develope, and exercise, and strengthen the faculties of the child by a 
steady course of excitement to self-activity, with a limited degree of assistance 
to his efforts. 

II. In opposition to the haste, and blind groping of many teachers without 
system, lie endeavored to find the proper point for conmiencing, and to proceed 
in a slow and gradnal, but uninterrupted course, from one point to another — 
always waiting until the first should have a certain degree of distinctness in the 
mind of the child, before entering upon the exhibition of the second. To pur- 
sue any other course would only give superficial knowledge, which would 
neither afford pleasure to the child, nor promote its real progress. 

III. He opposed the undue cultivation of the memory and understanding, as 
hostile to true education. He placed the essence of education in the harmoni- 
ous and uniform development of every faculty, so that the body should not be 
in advance of the mind, and that in the development of the mind, neither the 
physical powers, nor the aflections, should be neglected; and that skill in ac- 
tion should be acquired at the same lime with knowledge. "When this point is 
secured, we may know that education has really begun, and that it is not 
merely supeificial. 

IV. He required close attention and constant reference to the peculiarities of 
every child, and of each sex, as well as to the characteristics of the people 
among whom he lived, in order that he might acquire the development and 
qualifications necessary for the situation to which the Creator destined him, 
when he gave him these active faculties, and be prepared to labor successfully 
for those among whom he was placed by his birth. 

V. While Basedow introduced a multitude of subjects of instruction into the 
schools, without special regard to the development of the intellectual powers, 
Pestalozzi considered this plan as superficial. He limited the elementary sub- 
jects of instruction to Form, Number and Language, as the essential condition 



HISTORY OP PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 27 

of definite and distinct knowledge ; and believed that these elements should be 
taught with the utmost possible simplicity, comprehensiveness and mutual con- 
nection. 

VI. Pestalozzi, as well as Basedow, desired that instruction should com- 
mence with the intuition or simple perception of external objects and their rela- 
tions. He was not, however, satisfied with this alone, but wished that ihe art of 
observing should also be acquired. He thought the things perceived of less con- 
sequence than the cultivation of the perceptive powers, which should enable 
the child to observe completely, — to exhaust the subjects which should be 
brought before his mind. 

VII. While the Philanthropinists attached great importa'nce to special exer- 
cises of reflection, Pestalozzi would not make this a subject of separate study. 
He maintained that every subject of instruction should be properly treated, and 
thus become an exercise of thought; and believed, that lessons on Number, and 
Proportion and Size, would give the best occasion for it. 

VIII. Pestalozzi, as well as Basedow, attached great importance to Arithme- 
tic, particularly to Mental Arithmetic. He valued it, however, not merely in 
the limited view of its practical usefulness, but as an excellent means of 
strengthening the mind. He also introduced Geometry into the elementary 
schools, and the art connected with it, of modeling and drawing beautiful ob- 
jects. He wished, in this way, to train the eye, the hand, and the touch, for 
that more advanced species of drawing \¥hich had not been thought of before. 
Proceeding from the simple and intuitive, to the more complicated and diffi- 
cult forms, he arranged a series of exercises so gradual and complete, that the 
method of leaching this subject was soon brought to a good degree of perfection. 

IX. The Philanthropinists introduced the instruction of language into the 
common schools, but limited it chiefly to the writing of letters and preparation 
of essays. But Pestalozzi was not satisfied with a lifeless repetition of the 
rules of grammar, nor yet with mere exercises for common life. He aimed at 
a development of the laws of language from within — an introduction into its in- 
ternal nature and construction and peculiar spirit— which would not only culti- 
vate the intellect, but also improve the affections. It is impossible to do justice 
to his method of instruction on this subject, in a brief sketch like the present — 
but those who have witnessed its progress and results, are fully aware of its 
practical character and value. 

X. Like Basedow, Rochow and others, Pestalozzi introduced vocal music 
into the circle of school studies, on account of its powerful influence on the 
heart. But he was not satisfied that the children shotild learn to sing a few melo- 
dies by note or by ear. He wished them to know the rules of melody and rhythm, 
and dynamics — to pursue a regular course of instruction, descending to its very 
elements, and rendering the musical notes as familiar as the sounds of the let- 
ters. The extensive work of Nageli and PfeiSer has contributed very much to 
give this branch of instruction a better form. 

XI. He opposed the abuse which was made of the Socratic method in many 
of the Philanthropinic and other schools, by attempting to draw something out 
of children before they had received any knowledge. He recommends, on the 
contrary, in the early periods of instruction, the established method of dictation 
by the teacher and repetition by the scholar, with a proper tegard to rhythm, 
and at a later period, especially in the mathematical and other subjects which 
involve reasoning, the modern method, in which the teacher merely gives out 
the problems in a proper order, and leaves them to be solved by the pupils, by 
the exertion of their own powers. 

XII. Pestalozzi opposes strenuously the opinion that religious instruction 
should be addressed exclusively to the understanding; and shows that religion 
lies deep in the hearts of men, and that it should not be enstamped from with- 
out, but developed from within ; that the basis of religious feeling is to be 
found in the childish disposition to love, to thankfulness, to veneration, obedi- 
ence and confidence toward its parents; that these "should be cultivated and 
strengthened and directed toward God; and that religion should be formally 
treated of at a later period in connection with the feelings thus excited. As he 
requires the mother to direct the first development of all the faculties of her child, 
he assigns to her especially the task of first cultivating the religious feelings. 

XIII. Pestalozzi agreed with Basedow, that mutual affection ought to reign 
between the educator and the pupil, both in the house and in the school, in or- 



28 HISTORY OP PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 

der to render education effectual and useful. He was, therefore, as little dis- 
posed as Basedow, to sustain school despotism ; but he did not rely on artificial 
excitements, such as those addressed to emulation. He preferred that the chil- 
dren should find their best reward in the consciousness of increased intellectual 
vigor ; and expected the teacher to render the instruction so aitraciive, that the 
delightful feeling of progress should be the strongest excitement to industry and 
to morality. 

XIV. Pestalozzi attached as much importance to the cultivation of the 
bodily powers, and the exercise of the senses, as the Philanthropinists, and in 
his publications, pointed out a graduated course for this purpose. But as Guts- 
mutlis, Vieth, Jahn, and Clias treated this subject very fully, nothing further 
was written concerning it by his immediate followers. 

Such are the great principles which entitle Pestalozzi to the high praise of 
having given a more natural, a more comprehensive and deeper foundation for 
education and instruction, and of having called into being a method which is 
far superior to any that preceded it. 

But with all the excellencies of the system of education adopted by Pesta- 
lozzi, truth requires us to state that it also involves serious defects. 

1. In his zeal for the improvement of the mind itself, and for those modes of 
instruction which were calculated to develop and invigorate its faculties, Pes- 
talozzi forgot too much the necessity of general positive knowledge, as the ma- 
terial for thought and lor practical ifse in future life. The pupils of his estab- ' 
lishment, instructed on his plan, were too often dismissed wiih intellectual 
poweis which were vigorous and acute, but without the stores of knowledge 
important for immediate use — well qualified for mathematical and abstract 
reasoning, but not prepared to apply it to the business oi' common lite. 

2. He commenced with intuitive, mathematical studies too early, attached 
too much importance to them, and devoted a portion of time to them, which 
did not allow a reasonable attention to other studies, and which prevented the 
regular and harmonious cultivation of other powers. 

3. The »i;</twi of instruction was also defective in one important point. Sim- 
plification was carried too far, and continued too long. The mind became so ac- 
customed to receive knowledge divided into its most simple elements and small- 
est portions, that it was not prepared to embrace complicated ideas, or to make 
those rapid strides in investigation and conclusion which is one of the most im- 
portant results of a sound education, and which indicates the most valuable 
kind of mental vigor both for scientific purposes and for practical lite. 

4. He attached loo little importance to testimony as one of the sources of our 
knowledge, and devoted too little attention to historical truth. He was accus- 
tomed to olDserve that history was but a ' tissue of lies;' and forgot that it was 
necessary to occupy the pupil with man, and with moral events, as well as with 
nature and matter, if we wish to cultivate properly his moral powers, and ele- 
vate him above the material world. 

5. But above all, it is to be regretted, that in reference to religious education, 
he fell into an impoitant error of his predecessors. His too exclusive atlention 
to mathematical and scientific subjects, tended, like the system of Basedow, to 
give his pupils the habit of undervaluing historical evidence and of demanding 
rational demonstration for every truth, or of requiring the evidence of their 
senses, or something analogous to it, to which they were constantly called to 
appeal in their studies of Natural History. 

It is precisely in this way, that many men of profound scientific attainments 
have been led to reject the evidence of revelation, and some, even, strange as it 
may seem, to deny the existence of Him, whose works and laws they study. 
In some of the early Pestalozzian schools, feelings of this nature were particu- 
larly cherished by the habit of asserting a falsehood in the lessons on Mathe- 
matics or Natural history, and calling upon the pupils to contradict it or dis- 
prove it if they did not admit its truth. No improvement of the intellectual 
powers, can, in our view, compensate for the injury to the moral sense and the 
diminished respect for truth, which will naturally result from such a course. 

6. While Pestalozzi disapproved of the attempts of the Philanthropinists to 
draw forth from the minds of children, before they had stores of knowledge, he 
seemed to forget the application of his principle to moral subjects, or to imagine 
that this most elevated species of knowledge was innate. He attempted too 
much to draw from the minds of his pupils those great truths of religion and the 



HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 29 

spiritual world which can only be acquired from revelation ; and thus led ihem 
to imagine they were competent to judge on this subject without external aid. 
It is obvious that such a course would fall in most unhappily wilh the tenden- 
cies produced by other parts of the plan, and that we could not hope to educate 
in such a mode, a truly Christian community. 

The personal character of Pestalozzi also influenced his views and methods of 
education on religious subjects. He was remarkably the creature of power- 
ful impulses, which were usually of the most mild and benevolent kind; and 
he preserved a child-like character in this respect even to old age. It was 
probably this temperament, which led him to estimate at a low rate the import- 
ance of positive religious truth m the education of children, and to maintain 
that the mere habit of faith and love, if cultivated toward earthly friends and 
benelactors, would, of course, be transferred to our Heavenly Father, whenever 
his character should be exhibited to the mind of the child. The fundamental 
error of this view was established by the unhappy experience of his own insti- 
tution. His own example afforded the most striking evidence that the noblest 
impulses, not directed by established principles, may lead to imprudence and 
ruin, and thus defeat their own ends. As an illustration of this, it may be men- 
tioned that, on one of those occasions, frequently occurring, on which he was 
reduced to extremity for want of the means of supplying his large family, he 
borrowed four hundred dollars from a friend for the purpose. In going home, 
he met a peasant, wringing his hands in despair for the loss of his cow. Pes- 
talozzi put the entire bag of money into his hands, and ran off to escape his 
thanlcs. These circumstances, combined wilh the want of tact in reference to 
the affairs of common life, materially impaired his powers of usefulness as a 

Eractical instructor of youth. The rapid progress of his ideas rarely allowed 
im to execute his own plans; and, in accordance with his own system, too 
much time was employed in the profound development of principles, to admit 
of much attention to their practical application. 

But, as one of his admirers observed, it was his province to educate ideas and 
not children. He combated, with unshrinking boldness and untiring perse- 
verance, through a long life, the prejudices and abuses of the age in relerence to 
education, both by his example and by his numerous publications. He attacked 
with great vigor and no small degree of success, that fav^orite maxim of bigotry 
and tyranny, that obedience and devotion are the legitimate offspring of igno- 
rance. He denounced that degrading system, which considers it enough to 
enable man to procure a subsistence for himself and his offspring — and in this 
manner, merely to place him on a level with the beast of the forest; and which 
deems every thing lost whose value can not be estimated in money. He urged 
upon the consciences of parents and rulers, with an energy approaching that of 
the ancient prophets, the solemn duties which Divine Providence had imposed 
upon them, in committing to their charge the present and future destinies of 
their fellow-beings. In this way, he produced an impulse, which pervaded the 
continent of Europe, and which, bj' means of his popular and theoretical works, 
reached the cottages of the poor and the palaces of the great. His institution 
at Yverdun was crowded wilh men of every nation; not merely those who 
were led by the same impulse which inspired him, but by the agents of kings 
and noblemen, and public institutions, who came to make themselves ac- 
quainted with his principles, in order to become his fellow-laborers in other 
countries." 

When the Prussian Government, in 1809, undertook systematically the 
work of improving the elementary schools, as a means of creating and 
diffusing a patriotic spirit among the people, the fame of Pestalozzi was 
at its height. To him and to his school, to his method and to his disci- 
ples, the attention of the be.st teachers in the kingdom was turned for 
guidance and aid. Several enthusiastic young teachers were sent to his 
institution at Yverdun, (Iferten,) to study his methods and imbibe his 
spirit of devotion to the children of the poor. One of his favorite pupils, 
C. B, Zeller, of Wirteraberg, and who shared with him in certain weak- 



30 HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 

nesses of character, which prevented his attaining the highest success as 
a practical educator in carrying out the details of an extensive plan, was 
invited to organize a Normal School at Konigsberg, in the orphan- 
house (orphanotrophy) established by Frederick III., on the 13th of 
January, 1701, the day on which he declared his dukedom a kingdom, 
and caused himself to be crowned king, under the name of Frederick the 
First. To this seminary, during the first year of its existence, upward of 
one hundred clergymen, and eighty teachers, resorted, at the expense of 
the government, to acquire the principles and methods of the Pestaloz- 
zian system. Through them, and the teachers who went directly to Pes- 
talozzi, these principles and methods were transplanted not only into 
various parts of Prussia, but also into the schools and'seminaries of other 
states in Germany. Not even in Switzerland is the name of this philan- 
thropist and educator so warmly cherished as in Prussia. 

His centennial birthday was celebrated throughout Germany, and par- 
ticularly in Prussia, on the 12th of January, 1846, with an enthusiasm 
usually awarded only to the successful soldier. In more than one hundred 
cities and villages, in upward of one thousand schools, by more than 
fifty thousand teachers, it is estimated in a German school journal, was 
the anniversary marked by some public demonstration. The following 
notice of the appropriate manner in which it was celebrated in Leipsic, by 
founding a charity for the orphans of teachers, and for poor and neglected 
children generally, is abridged from an extended notice in Reden's 
School Gazette. 

" At the tirst school hour, the elder pupils of the city school at Leipsic, were 
informed by a public address of the eminent merits of Pestalozzi as an eminent 
teacher, and a program, with his portrait, handed to them ; this program 
contained an address to the citizens of Leipsic, by the Rev. Dr. Naumann ; the 
plan of a public charity, to be called the Pestalozzi Foundation, (Hiftung,) by 
Director Vogel ; and a biographical sketch, by Professor Plato. At ten o'clock, 
the elder pupils of the burgher school, and delegates from all the schools, with 
their teachers, and the friends of education, assembled in the great hall of one 
of the public schools ; on the walls were portraits of Pestalozzi, adorned with 
garlands. Addresses were made by the Rev, Dr. Naumann, who had visited 
Pestalozzi in Iferten, and by other gentlemen, while the intervals were enliv- 
ened by songs and music composed for the occasion. In the evening a general 
association of all the teachers in Leipsic was formed, for the purpose of estab- 
lishing ' the Pestalozzi foundation,' designed for the education of poor and 
neglected children." 

In Dresden a similar charity was commenced for the benefit of all orphans 
of teachers from any part of Saxony. The same thing was done in nearly 
all the large cities of Germany. In Berlin a Pestalozzi foundation was com- 
menced for an orphan-house, to which contributions had been made from 
all provinces of Prussia, and from other states of Germany ; to the direction 
of this institution Dr. Diesterweg has been appointed. 

The schools of most of the teachers and educators, whose names have 
been introduced, were in reality Teachers' Seminaries, although not 
so designated by themselves or others. Their establishments were not 
simply schools for children, but were conducted to test and exemplify 



HISTORY OP PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 



31 



principles and methods of education, and these were perpetuated and 
disseminated by means of books in which they were embodied, or of pupils 
and disciples who transplanted them into other places. 

As has been already stated, on the authority of Franke's biographer, 
and of Schwartz, Raumer, and other writers on the history of education 
in Germany, the first regularly-organized Teachers' Seminary, or Normal 
School, (not normal in the sense in which the word was originally used, 
as a school of children so conducted as to be a model or pattern for teach- 
ers to imitate, but a school of young men, who had already passed through 
an elementary, or even a superior school, and who were preparing to be 
teachers, by making additional attainments, and acquiring a knowledge 
of the human mind, and the principles of education as a science, and of its 
methods as an art,) was established in Halle, in a part of Hanover, prior 
to 1704. About the same period, Steinmetz opened a class for teachers 
in the Abbey of Klosterberge, near Magdeburg, and which was continued 
by Resewitz, by whom the spirit and method of Franke and the pietists 
were transplanted into the north of Germany. In 1730, lectures on 
philology and the best methods of teaching the Latin. Greek and German 
languages, were common in the principal universities and higher schools. 
The first regularly-organized seminary for this purpose, was established 
at Gottingen, in 173S; and by its success led to the institution of a similar 
course of study and practice in Jena, Helle, Helrastadt, Heidelberg, Ber- 
lin, Munich, &c. 

In 1735, the first seminary for primary school teachers was established 
in Prussia, at Stettin, in Pomerania. In 1748, Hecker, apupil of Franke, 
and the founder of burgher, or what we should call high schools, estab- 
lished an institution for teachers of elementary schools, in Berlin, in which 
the king testified an interest, and enjoined, by an ordinance in 1752, that 
the country schools on the crown lands in New Mark and Pomerania 
should be supplied by pupil teachers from this institution who had learned 
the culture of silk and mulberries in Hecker's institution, with a view of 
carrying forward industrial instruction into that section of his kingdom. 
In 1757, Baron von Fiirstenberg established a seminary for teachers at 
Munster, in Hanover. In 1767, the Canan von Rochow opened a school 
on his estate in Rekane, in Bradenburg, where, by lectures and practice, 
he prepared schoolmasters for country schools on his own and neighborino- 
properties. To these schools teachers were sent from all parts of Ger- 
many, to be trained in the principles and practice of primary instruction. 
In 1770, Bishop Febinger, organized a Normal (mof/eZ) School in Vienna, 
with a course of lectures and practice for teachers, extending through 
four months ; and about the same time the deacon Ferdinand Kinder- 
mann, or von Schulstein, as he was called by Maria Theresa, converted 
a school in Kaplitz, in Bohemia, into a Normal Institution. Between 
1770 and 1800,-as will be seen by the following Table, teachers' semina- 
ries were introduced into nearly every German state, which, in all but 
three instances, were supported in whole or in part by the government 



32 HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 

As the demand for good teachers exceeded the supply furnished by these 
seminaries, private institutions have sprung up, some of which have at- 
tained a popularity equal to the public institutions. But in no state have 
such private schools been able to sustain themselves, until the gov- 
ernment seminaries and the public school system had created a demand 
for well-qualified teachers. And in no state in Europe has the experi- 
ment of making seminaries for primary school teachers an appendage to 
a university, or a gymnasium, or any other school of an academic char- 
acter, proved successful for any considerable period of time, or on an ex- 
tensive scale. 

At the beginning of the present century, there were about thirty 
teachers' seminaries in operation. The wars growing out of the French 
Revolution suspended for a time the movements in behalf of popular ed- 
ucation, vintil the success of the new organization of schools in Prussia, 
commencing in 1809, arrested the attention of governments and individ- 
uals all over the continent, and has led, within the last quarter of a 
century, not only to the establishment of seminaries nearly sufficient to 
supply the annual demand for teachers, but to the more perfect organiza- 
tion of the whole system of public instruction. 

The cardinal principles of the system of Primary Public Instruction as 
now organized in the German states, are, 

First. The recognition on the part of the government of the right, duty 
and interest of every community, not only to co-operate with parents in 
the education of children, but to provide, as far as practicable, by efficient 
Inducement and penalties, against the neglect of this first of parental 
obligations, in a single instance. The school obligation, — the duty of pa- 
rents to send their children to school, or provide for their instruction at 
home, — was enforced by law in Saxe-Gotha, in 1643 ; in Saxony and 
Wirtemberg, in 1659; in Hildesheim in 1663; in Calemberg, in 1681; in 
Celle, in 1689 ; in Prussia, in 1717 ; and in every state of Germany, before 
the beginning of the present century. But it is only within the last thirty 
years, that government enactments have been made truly efficient by en- 
listing the habits and good will of the people on the side of duly. We 
must look to the generation of men now coming into active life for the 
fruits of this principle, universally recognized, and in most cases wisely 
enforced in every state, large and small, Catholic and Protestant, and 
having more or less of constitutional guaranties and forms. 

Second. The establishment of a sufficient number of permanent schools 
of different grades, according to the population, in every neighborhood, 
with a suitable outfit of buildings, furniture, appendages and apparatus. 

Third. The specific preparation of teachers, as far as practicable, for 
the particular grade of schools for which they are destined, with oppor- 
tunities for professional employment and promotion through life. 

Fourth. Provision on the part of the government to make the schools 
accessible to the poorest, not, except in comparatively a few instances, 



HISTORY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 33 

and those in the most despotic governments, by making them free to the 
poor, but cheap to all. 

Fifth. A system of inspection, variously organized, but constant, gen- 
eral, and responsible — reaching every locality, every school, every 
teacher, and pervading the whole state from the central government to 
the remotest district. 

The success of the school systems of Germany is universally attributed 
by her own educators to the above features of her school law — especially 
those which relate to the teacher. These provisions respecting teachers 
may be summed up as follows : — 

1. The recognition of the true dignity and importance of the office of 
teacher in a system of public instruction. 

2. The establishment of a sufficient number of Teachers' Seminaries, or 
Normal Schools, to educate, in a special course of instruction and practice, 
all persons who apply or propose to teach in any public primary school, 
with aids to self and professional improvement through life. 

3. A system of examination and inspection, by which incompetent per- 
sons are prevented from obtaining situations as teachers, or are excluded 
and degraded from the ranks of the profession, by unworthy or criminal 
conduct. 

4. A system of promotion, by which faithful teachers can rise in a scale 
of lucrative and desirable situations. 

5. Permanent employment through the year, and for life, with a social 
position and a compensation which compare favorably with the Vv^ages 
paid to educated labor in other departments of business. 

6. Preparatory schools, in which those who wish eventually to become 
teachers, may test their natural qualities and adaptation for school teach- 
ing before applying for admission to a Normal School. 

7. Frequent conferences and associations for mutual improvement, by an 
interchange of opinion and sharing the benefit of each others' experience. 

8. Exemption from military service in time of peace, and recognition, 
in social and civil life, as public functionaries. 

9. A pecuniary allowance when sick, and provision for years of infirmity 
and old age, and for their families in case of death. 

10. Books and periodicals, by which the obscure teacher is made par- 
taker in all the improvements of the most experienced and distinguished 
members of the profession in his own and other countries. 

With this brief and rapid survey of the history and condition of Popu- 
lar Education in Germany, we will now pass to a more particular descrip- 
tion of primary schools in several states, with special reference to the or- 
ganization and course of instruction of Normal Seminaries, and other 
means and agencies for the professional training of teachers. Before 
doing this, we pubHsh a table, prepared from a variety of school docu- 
ments, exhibiting the number and location of Normal Schools in Germany, 
with the testimony of some of our best educators as to the result of this 
Normal School system. 

3 



34 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 



TABLE. 

NUMBER AND LOCATION OF NORMAL SEMINARIES IN THE DIFFERENT STATES OF GERMANY. 

The following Table has been compiled from recent official documents 
and school journals, and without being complete, is accurate as far as it 
goes. Calinich, in an article in Reden's Magazine, estimates the whole 
number of public and private seminaries in Germany, at one hundred and 
fifty-six, and the preparatory schools at two hundred and six. 



PRUSSIA, 



SUPERIOR SEMINARIES. 



45 HANOVER 7 

1 Alfeld, f. 1750; Hanover, Hildes- 
heim, Osnabriick, Siade ; one for 
Jewish teachers in Hanover. 



Stettin, founded 1735 ; Potsdam, foun. 
1748; Breslou, foun. 1765; Hal-^ 
berstadl, f. 1778; Magdeburg, f'riA-nuAT /i 

1790; Weissenfels,f 1794; Kara- -^^^f^^' f .^.n^- ^,,,: ' V^r' 
lene, f. 1811 ; Braunsberg, f. 1810 ; ^l'^''™'l^V-Mn ' ' ^ttlmgen, Meers- 
Marienbnrg, f 1814; Graudenz, f. ^^"^S, Mumieim. 

1816; Neuzelle, f. 1817; Berlin, f. 

1830; Coslin, f. 1806.-, Bunzlan, f. Hesse-Cassel, 3 

1816; Bromberg, f. 1819 ; Paradies,| Fulda, Homberg, Schlichtem. 

f. 1838; Erfurt, f. 1820; BiJren, f. Hessr-Darmstadt, 2 

1825; Meurs, f. 1820; Keuwied, f.\ Friedbeig, Bensheim. 

1816; Biiihl. f 1823; Kempen, f. Amu,tt- q 

,Qno' ^onigsberg, re-organ ized,j Bemburg, Cothen, Dessau. 

1809; Ober-Glogau, re-or., I8l5;' o 

Posen, f 1804; Soest.f. 1818; Low-i^'t^s®.' ■• • ■,• 

en f. 1849 ' Ureiz, Gera, bchleiz. 

iSaxe Coburg-Gotha, 2 

SMALL, OR SECONDARY SEMINARIES. Coburg; Gotha, f 1779. 

Angerburg f. 1829 ; Muhlhausen s.xp, Meintngen, 1 

Greifswalo f 1791 ; Kammm, IJ Rildburghausen. 
1840,Pvnlz, f.l827; Trzemesseo.fl^ ,„ '^ 
1829; Gardelegen,f. 1821 ; Eisleben i^^^^^ Weimar, 
f.l836; Pelershagen, f. 1831 ; Lan- ^''^'"^" ^'^ 



genhorst, f. 1830; Heiligenstadt, 
Eylau, Alt-D5bern, Siralsiind. 

FOR FEMALE TEACHERS. 

Miinster; Paderborn ; prlvnte semi- 
naries in Berlin, (Bormann) ; Ma- 
rienwerder, (Albert! ;) Kaisers- 
werth, (Fleidner.) 

.AUSTRIA, ......: 11 

Vienna, f 1771 ; Prague, Trieste, Salz 
burg, Inspruck, Graz, Gorz, Klag- 
enfart, Laibach, Linz, Brtinn. 

SAXONY, 10 

Dresden, f. 1785 ; Fletcher's seminary 
f. 1825; Freiberg, f 1797; Zittau, 
Budissin, Plaiien, Grimma, Anna- 
berg, Pirna, WaSdenburg. 

BAVARIA, 9 

Bamberg, f 1777; Eichstudt, Speyer, 
Kaiserslautern, Lauingen, Alldorf, 
Schwabach. 

WIRTEMBERG, 8 

Esslingen, Oehringen, Gmiind, Nur- 
tingen, Stuttgart, Weingarten, Tii- 
binffea. 



Weimar, Eisenach. 

Oldenburg, 2 

Oldenburg, Birkenfeld. 

HOLSTEIN, 

Segeberg, f. 1780. 
Saxe-Altenburg, , 

Altenburg. 
Nassau, , 

Idsiein. 
Brunswick 

Wolfenb-dttel. 
Luxemburg, .......,, 

Luxemburg. 
Lippe, 

Detmold. 



Mecklenburg Schwerin, 

Ludwigslust. 
Mecklenburg Strelitz, 

Mirow. 
Schwarzburg 

Rudolstadt. 

LUEECK, 

Bremen, 

Hamburg, ...... 

Frankfort . , . , . 



RESULTS 

OP THE NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM IN GERMANY. 



The following testimony as to the results of the system of training teach- 
ers in institutions organized and conducted with special reference to com- 
municating a knowledge of the science and art of education, is gathered from 
American documents. 

Rev. Calvin E. Stowe, D. D., Professor of Biblical Literature in Lane 
Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, in a " Report on Elementary Public Instruction 
in Europe" submitted to the General Assembly of Ohio, December, 1839, 
after describing the course of instruction pursued in the common schools of 
Prussia and Wirtemberg, thus sums up the character of the system in refer- 
ence particularly to the wants of Ohio : 

" The striking features of this system, even in the hasty and imperfect sketch 
which my limits allow me to give, are obvious even to superficial observation. 
No one can fail to observe its great completeness, both as to the number and 
kind of subjects embraced in it, and as to its adaptedness to develop every 
power of every kind, and give it a useful direction. What topic, in all that is 
necessary for a sound business education, is here omitted ? I can think of noth- 
ing, unless it be one or two of the modern languages, and these are introduced 
wherever it is necessary. I have not taken tlie course precisely as it exists in 
any one school, but have combined, from an investigation of many institutions, 
the features Avhich I suppose would most fairly represent the whole system. In 
the Rhenish provinces of Prussia, in a considerable part of Bavaria, Baden, and 
Wirtemberg, French is taught as well as German ; and in the schools of Prussian 
Poland, German and Polish are taught. Two languages can be taught in a school 
quite as easily as one, provided the teacher be perfectly mmiliar with both, as 
any one may see by visiting Mr. Solomon's school in Cincinnati, where all the 
instruction is given both in German and English. 

What fixculty of mind is there that is not developed in the scheme of instruc- 
tion sketched above ? I know of none. The perceptive and reflective faculties, 
the memory and tlie judgment, the imagination and the taste, the moi-al and re- 
ligious faculty, and even the various kinds of physical and manual dexterity, all 
have opportunity for development and exercise. Indeed, I think the system, in 
its great outlines, as nearly complete as human ingenuity and skill can make it ; 
though undoubtedly some of its ai-rangements and details admit of improvement ; 
and some changes Avill of course be necessary in adapting it to the circumstances 
<if different countries. 

The entirely practical character of the system is obvious throughout. It 
views every subject on the practical side, and in reference to its adaptedness to 
use. The dry, technical, abstract parts of science are not those first presented ; 
but the system j^roceeds, hi the only way which nature ever pointed out, from 
practice to theory, from facts to demonstrations. It has often been a complaint 
in respect to some systems of education, that the more a man studied, the less he 
knew of the actual business of life. Such a complaint cannot be made in refer- 
ence to this system, for, being intended to educate for the actual business of life, 
this object is never for a moment lost sight of 

Another striking feature of tlie system is its moral and rehgious character. 
Its morality is pure and elevated, its religion entirely removed from the narrow- 
ness of sectarian bigotry. What parent is there, loving his children, and Avishing 
to have them respected and happy, who would not desire that they should be 



gg RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM, 

educated under such a kind of moral and religious influence as has been described t 
Whether a believer in revelation or not, does he not know that without sound 
morals there Ciin be no happiness, and that there is no morality like the morality 
of the New Testament ? Boes he not know that without religion the human 
heart can never be at rest, and that there is no religion like the religion of the 
Bible ? Every well-informed man knows that, as a general fact, it is impossible 
to impress the obligations of morality with any efficiency on the heart of a child, 
or even on that of an adult, without an appeal to some code which is sustained 
by tlie authoi-ity of God ; and for wliat code will it be possible to claim this 
authority, if not for the code of the Bible ? 

But perhaps some will be ready to say, ' The scheme is indeed an excellent 
one, provided only it were practicable ; but the idea of introducing so extensive 
and complete a course of study into our common schools is entirely visionary, and 
can never be realized.' I answer, that it is no theory which I have been exhib- 
iting, but a matter of fact, a copy of actual practice. The above system is no 
visionary scheme, emanating from the closet of a recluse, but a sketch of the 
course of instruction now actually pursued by thousands of schoolmasters, in the 
best district schools that have ever been organized. It can be done ; for it has 
been done — it is now done : and it ought to be done. If it can be done in 
Europe, I believe it can be done in the United States : if it can be done in Prus- 
sia, I know it can be done in Ohio. The people have but to say the word and 
provide the means, and the thing is accomplished ; for the word of the people 
here is even more powerful than the word of the king there ; and the means of 
the people here are altogether more abundant for such an object than the means 
of the sovereign there. Shall this object, then, so desirable in itself, so entu'ely 
practicable, so easily within our reach, fail of accomplishment ? For the honor 
and welfare of our state, for the safety of our whole nation, I trust it will not 
fail ; but that we shall soon witness, in this commonwealth, the introduction of a 
system of common-school instruction, fully adequate to all the wants of our pop- 
ulation. 

But the question occurs, How can this be done ? I will give a few brief hints 
as to some things which I suppose to be essential to the attainment of so desira- 
ble an end. 

1 . Teachers must be skillful, and trained to their business. It will at once be 
perceived, that the plan above sketched out proceeds on the supposition that the 
teacher has fully and distinctly in his mind the whole course of instruction, not 
only as it respects the matters to be taught, but also as to all tlie best modes of 
teaching, that he may be able readily and decidedly to vary his method accord- 
ing to the peculiarities of each individual mind which may come under his care. 
This is tlie only true secret of successful teaching. The old mechanical method, 
in which the teaclier relies entirely on his text-book, and drags every mind along 
through the same dull routine of creeping recitation, is utterly insufficient to 
meet the wants of our people. It may do in Asiatic Turkey, where the whole 
object of the school is to learn to pronounce the words of the Koran in one dull, 
monotonous series of sounds ; or it may do in China, where men must never speak 
or think out of tlie old beaten track of Chinese imbecility ; but it will never do 
in the United States, Avhere the object of education ought to be to make imme- 
diately available, for the highest and best purposes, every particle of real talent 
that exists in the nation. To effect such a purpose, the teacher must possess a 
strong and independent mind, well disciplined, and well stored with every thing 
pertaining to his profession, and ready to adapt his instructions to every degree 
of intellectual capacity, and every kind of acquired habit. But how can we 
expect to find such teachers, unless they are trained to their business ? A very 
few of extraordinary powers may occur, as we sometimes find able mechanics, 
and great matliematicians, who had no early training in their favorite pursuits ; 
but these few exceptions to a general rule will never multiply fast enough to 
supply our schools with able teachers. The management of the human mind, 
particularly youthful mind, is the most deUcate task ever committed to the hand 
of man ; and shall it be left to mere instinct, or shall our schoolmasters have at 
least as careful a training as our lawyers and physicians ? 

2. Teachers, then, must have the means of acquiring the necessary qualifica- 
tions ; in other words, there must be institutions in which the business of teaching 



RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 3^ 

is made a systematic object of attention. I am not an advocate for multiplying 
our institutions. We already have more in number than we support, and it 
woidd be wise to give power and efficiency to those we now possess before we 

Eroject new ones. But the science and art. of teaching ought to be a regular 
ranch of study in some of our academies and high schools, that those wlso are 
looking forward to this profession may have an opportunity of studying its prin- 
ciples. In addition to this, in our populous towns, Avhere there is opportunity 
for it, there should be large model schools, under the care of the most able and 
experienced teachers that can be obtained ; and the candidates for the profes.sion 
•who have already completed the theoretic course of the acaderhy, should be em- 
ployed in this school as monitors, or assistants — thus testing all their theories by 
practice, and acquiring skill. and dexterity under the guidance of their head 
master. Thus, while learning, they would be teaching, and no time or effort 
would be lost. To give efficiency to the whole system, to present a general 
standard and a prominent point of union, there should be at least one model 
teachers' seminary, at some central point — as at Columbus — which shall be amply 
provided with all the means of study and instruction, and have connected with it 
Bchools of every grade, fcjr the practice of the students, under the immediate 
superintendence of their teachers. 

3. The teachers must be competently supported, and devoted to their busi- 
ness. Few men attain any great degree of excellence in a profession unless they 
love it, and place all their hopes in life upon it. A man cannot, consistently 
with his duty to himself, engage in a business which does not afford him a com- 
petent support, unless he has other means of living, which is not the case with 
many who engage ifi teaching. In this country especially, where there are such 
vast fields of profitable employment open to every enterprising man, it is not 
possible that the best of teachers can be obtained, to any considerable extent, for 
our district schools, at the present rate of wages. We have already seen what 
encouragement is held out to teachers in Russia, Prussia, and other European 
nations, and what pledges are given of competent support to their families, not 
only while engaged in the work, but when, having been worn out in the public 
service, they are no longer able to labor. In those countries, where every pro- 
fession and walk of life is crowded, and where one of the most common and 
oppressive evils is want of employment, men of high talents and qualificiitions 
are often glad to become teachers even of district schools ; men who in this coun- 
try would aspire to the highest places in our colleges, or even our halls of legis- 
lation and courts of justice. How much move necessary, then, here, that the 
profession of teaching should afford a competent support ! 

Indeed, such is the state of things in this country, that we cannot expect to 
find male teachers for all our schools. The business of educating, especially 
young children, must fnll, to a great extent, on female teachers. There is not 
the same variety of tempting employment for females as for men ; they can be 
supported cheaper, and the Creator has given them peculiar qualifications for 
the education of the young. Females, then, ought to be employed extensively 
in all our elementary schools, and they should be encouraged and aided in ob- 
taining the qualifications necessary for this work. There is no country in the 
world where woman holds so high a rank, or exerts so groat an influence, as 
here ; wherefore, her responsibilities are the greater, and she is under obliga- 
tions to render herself the more actively useful. 

4. The children must be made comfortable in their school ; they must be 
punctual, and attend the whole course. There can be no profitable study with- 
out personal comfort ; and the inconvenience and misei-able arrangements of 
some of our school-liouses are enough to annihilate all that can be done by the 
best of teachers. No instructor can teach unless the pupils are present to be 
taught, and no plan of systematic instruction can be carried steadily through 
unless the pupils attend punctually and through the whole course. 

5. The chil Iren must be given up implicitly to the discipline of the schooL 
Nothing can be done unless the teacher has the entire control of his pupils in 
school-hours, and out of scliool too, so far as the rules of the school are concerned. 
If the parent in any way interferes with, or overrules, the arrangements of the 
teacher, he may attribute it to himself if the school is not successful. No teacher 
ever ought to be employed to whom the entire management of the cliildren can- 



3g RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

not be safely intrusted ; and better at any time dismiss the teacher than coun- 
teract his disciphne. Let pai'ents but take the pains and spend the money 
necessary to provide a comfortable school-house and a competent teacher for 
their children, and they never need apprehend that the discipline of the school 
will be unreasonably severe. No inconsiderable part of the corporal punishment 
that has been inflicted in schools, has been made necessary by the discomfort of 
school houses and the unskillfulness of teachers. A lively, sensitive boy is stuck 
upon a bench full of knot-holes and sharp ridges, without a support for his feet 
or his back, with a scorching fire on one side of him and a freezing wind on the 
other ; and a stiff Orbilius of a master, with wooden brains and iron hands, orders 
him to sit perfectly still, witli nothing to employ his muid or his body, till it ia 
his turn to read. Tlius confined for hours, what can the poor little fellow do but 
begin to wriggle like a fisli out of water, or an eel in a fiying-pan ? For this 
UTepressible effort at relief he receives a box on the ear ; this provokes and ren- 
ders him still more uneasy, and next comes the merciless ferule ; and the pooi 
child is finally burnt and frozen, cufi'ed and beaten, into hardened roguery or 
incurable stupidity, just because the avarice of his parents denied him a comfort- 
able school-house and a competent teacher. 

6. A beginning must be made at certain points, and the advance toward 
completeness must be gradual. Every thing cannot be done at once, and such a 
system as is needed cannot be generally introduced till its benefits are first de- 
monstrated by actual experiment. Certain great points, then, where the people 
are ready to co-operate, and to make the most liberal advances, in proportion to 
their means, to raaintam the schools, should be selected, and no pains or expense 
spared, till the full benefits of the best system are realized ; and as the good 
effects are seen, other places will very readily follow the example. All experi- 
ence has shown that governmental patronage is most profitably employed, not to 
do the entire work, but simply as an incitement to the jaeople to help themselves. 

To follow up this great object, the Legislature has wisely made choice of a 
Superintendent, whose untiring labors and disinterested zeal are worthy of all 
praise. But no great plan can be carried through in a single year ; and if the 
Superintendent is to have opportunity to do what is necessary, and to preserve 
that independence and energy of official character which are requisite to the 
successful discharge of his duties, he should hold his ofllce for the same term, and 
on the same conditions, as the Judges of the Supreme Court. 

Every officer engaged in this, or in any other public work, should receiTe a 
suitable compensation for his services. This, justice requires ; and it is the only 
way to secure fidelity and efficiency. 

There is one class of our population for whom some special provision seems 
necessary. The children of foreign emigrants are now very numerous among us, 
and it is essential that tliey receive a good English education. But they are 
not prepared to avail tliemselves of the advantages of our common English 
schools, their imperfect acquaintance with the language being an insuperable bar 
to their entering on the course of study. It is necessary, therefore, that there be 
some preparatory schools, in Avhich instruction shall be communicated both in 
English and their native tongue. The English is, and must be, the language of 
this country, and the highest interests of our state demand it of the Legislature 
to require that the English language be thoroughly taught in every school wliich 
they patronize. Still, the exigencies of the case make it necessary that there 
should be some schools expressly fitted to the condition of our foreign emigrants, 
to introduce them to a knowledge of our language and institutions. A school of 
this kind has been established in Cincinnati, by benevolent individuals. It has 
been in operation about a year, and already nearly three hundred cliildren have 
received its advantages. Mr. Solomon, the head teacher, was educated for his 
profession in one of the best institutions of Prussia, and in this school he has 
demonstrated the excellences of the system. The instructions are all given both 
in German and English, and this use of two languages does not at all mterrupt 
the progress of the children in their respective studies. I cannot but recommend 
this philanthropic institution to the notice and patronage of the Legislature.* 

In neighborhoods where there is a mixed population, it is desirable, if possible, 

* German schools now form a part of the system of public schools in Cincinnati. 



RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 39 

to employ teachers who understand both languages, and that the exercises of the 
school be conducted in both, with the rule, however, that all the reviews and 
examinations be in English only.'' 

Alexander Dallas Bache, LL. D., Superintendent of the United States 
Coast Survey, in a " Report on Education in Europe" to the Ti-ustees of the 
Girard College of Orphans, Philadelphia, in 1838, remarks as follows: 

" When education is to be rapidly advanced, Seminaries for Teachers offer the 
means of securing this result. An eminent teacher is selected as Director of the 
Seminary ; and by the aid of competent assistants, and while benefiting the com- 
munity by the instruction given in the schools attaclied to tlie Seminary, trains, 
yearly, from thu-ty to forty youths m the enlightened practice of his methods; 
these, in their turn, become teachers of schools, which they are fit at once to 
conduct, without the failures and mistakes usual with novices ; for thougli begin- 
ners in name, they have acquired, in the course of the two or three years spent at 
the Seminary, an experience equivalent to many years of unguided efforts. Tliis 
result has been fully realized in the success of the attempts to spread the meth- 
ods of Pestalozzi and others through Prussia. The plan lias been adopted, and is 
yielding its appropriate fruits in Holland, Switzerland, France, and Saxony ; while 
in Austria, where the method of preparing teachers by their attendance on the 
primary schools is still adhered to, the schools are stationary, and beliind those of 
Northern and Middle Germany. 

These Seminaries produce a strong esprit de corps among teachers, which 
tends powerfully to interest them in their profession, to attach tliem to it, to ele- 
vate it in their eyes, and to stimulate tlaem to improve constantly upon tlie at- 
tainments with which they may have commenced its exercise. By their aid a 
standard of examination in the theory and practice of instruction is furnished, 
which may be fairly exacted of candidates who have chosen a different way to 
obtain access to the profession." 

Hon. Horace Mann, in his " Seventh Annual Report as Secretary of the 
Board of Education in Massachusetts,'^ in wliich he gives an account of an 
educational tour through the principal countries of Europe in the summer 
of 1843, s:iys : 

" Among the nations of Europe, Prussia has long enjoyed the most distin- 
guished reputation for the excellence of its schools. In reviews, in speeclies, in 
tracts, and even in graver works devoted to the cause of education, its schools 
have been exhibited as models for the imitation of tlie rest of Christendom. For 
many years, scarce a suspicion was breathed that the general plan of education 
in that kingdom was not sound in theory and most beneficial in practice. Re- 
cently, however, grave charges have been preferred against it by high authority. 
The popular traveler, Laing, has devoted several chapters of his large work on 
Prussia to the disparagement of its school system. An octavo volume, entitled 
'The Age of Great Cities,' has recently appeared in England, in which that sys- 
tem is strongly condemned ; and during the pendency of the famous ' Factories' 
Bill' before the British House of Commons, in 1843, numerous tracts were issued 
from the English press, not merely calling in question, but strongly denouncing, 
the whole plan of education in Prussia, as being not only designed to produce, 
but as actually producing, a spirit of blmd acquiescence to arbitrary power, in 
things spiritual as well as temporal — as being, in fine, a system of education 
adapted to enslave, and not to enfranchise, the human mind. And even in some 
parts of the United States — the very nature and essence of whose institutions 
consist in the idea that the people are wise enough to distinguish between what 
is right and what is wrong — even here, some have been illiberal enough to con- 
demn, in advance, every thing that savors of the Prussian system, because that 
system is sustained by arbitrary power. 

***«■*■»*** 

But allowing all these charges against the Prussian system to be true, there 
were still two reasons why I was not deterred from examining it. 

In the first place, the evils imputed to it were easily and naturally separable 



40 



RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 



from the good wliicli it was not denied to possess. If the Prussian schoolmaster 
has better methods of teaching reading, writing, grammar, geogi-aphy, arithme- 
tic, (fee, so that, in half the time, he produces greater and better results, surely 
we may copy his modes (>f teaclnng these elements without adopting his notions 
of passive obedience to government, or of blind adherence to the articles of a 
church. By the ordinance of nature, the human faculties are substantially the 
same all over the world, and hence the best means for their development and 
growtli in one place, must be substantially the best for their devehjpment and 
growth every wliere. The spirit which shall control the action of tliese faculties 
when matured, which shall train them to self-reliance or to abject submission, 
which sliall lead them to refer all questions to the standard of reason or to that 
of authority, — tliis'spirit is wl)olly distinct and distinguishable from the manner 
in which the faculties tliemselves onglit to be trained ; and we may avail our- 
selves of all unproved methods in the earlier processes, without being contami- 
nated by tlie abuses winch may be made to follow them. The best style of 
teaching arithmetic or spelling has no necessary or natural connection with the 
doctrine of hereditary right ; and an accomplished lesson in geography or gram- 
mar commits the human intellect to no particular dogma in religion. 

In tlie second place, if Prussia can pervert the benign influences of education 
to tiu! support of arbitrary power, wt; purely can employ them for the support 
and perpetuation of republican institutions. A national spirit of liberty can be 
cultivated more easily than a national spirit of bondage ; and if it may be made 
one of the great prerogatives of education to perform the unnatural and unholy 
work of making slaves, then surely it must be one of the noblest instrumentali- 
ties for rearing a nation of freemen. If a moral power over the understandings 
and affections of the people may be turned to evil, may it not also be employed 
for the highest good ? 

Besides, a generous and impartial mind does not ask whence a thing cwmes, 
but what it is. Those who, at the present day, would reject an improvement 
■because of tlie place of its origin, belong to the same school of bigotry with those 
who inquired if any good could come out of Nazareth ; and what infinite bless- 
ings would the W(jrld have lost had that party been punished by success ! 
Throughout my whole tour, no one principle has been more frequently exempli- 
fied than this,— that wherever I have found the best institutions, — educational, 
ref(jrmatory, charitable, penal, or otherwise, — there I have always found the 
greatest desire to know how similar institutions were administered among our- 
selves ; and Avhere I have found the worst, there I have found most of the spirit 
of self-complacency, and even an offensive disinclination to hear of better 

methods. 

-;f -x- -x- ■?:- 4:- -x- -X- * * -Jf * * 

All the subjects I have enumerated were taught in all the schools I visited, 
whether in city or*country, for the lich or for tlie poor. In the lowest school in 
the smallest and obscurest village, or for the poorest class in overcrowded cities; 
in the schools connected witli pauper establishments, Avith houses of correction, 
(?r Avith prisons, — in all these, there was a teacher of mature ape, of simple, unaf- 
fected, and decorous manners, benevolent in his expression, kind and genial in 
his intercourse with the young, and of such attainments and resources as qualified 
him not only to lay down the abstract principles of the above range of studies, 
but, by familiar illustration and apposite example, to commend them to the at- 
tention of the children. 

I speak of the teachers whom I saw, and with whom I had more or less of 
personal intercourse ; and, after some opportunity for the observation of public 
assemblies or bodies of men, I do not hesitate to say, that if those teachers were 
brought together, in one body, I believe they would form as dignified, intelligent, 
benevolent-looking a company of men as could be collected from the same amount 
of population in any country. They were alike free from arrogant pretension 
and from the affectation of huniility. It has been often remarked, both in Eng- 
land and in this country, that the nature of a school-teacher's occupation exposes 
him, in some degree, to' overbearing manners, and to dogmatism in the statement 
of his opinions. Accustomed to the exercise of supreme authority, moving 
among those who are so much his inferiors in point of attainment, perhaps it is 
proof of a very well-balanced mind, if he keeps himself free from assumption 



RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 41 

in opinion and haughtiness of demeanor. Especially are such faults or vices apt 
to spring up in weak or ill-furnislied minds. A teacher who cannot rule by love, 
must do so by fear. A teacher who cannot supply material for the activity of 
his pupils' minds by his talent, must put down that activity by force. A teacher 
■who cannot answer all the questions and solve all the doubts of a scholar as they 
arise, must assume an awful and mysterious air, and must expound in oracles, 
which themselves need more explanation tlian the original difficulty. When a 
teacher knows much, and is master of his whole subject, he can afford to be mod- 
est and unpretending. But when the head is the only text-book, and the teacher 
has not been previously prepared, he must, of course, have a small library. 
Among all the Pjussian and Saxon teacliers whom I saw, there were not half a 
dozen instances to remind one of those unpleasant characteristics, — what Lord 
Bacon Avould call the ' idol of the tribe,' or profession, — which sometimes de- 
grade the name and disparage the sacred calling of a teacher. Generally speak- 
ing, there seemed to be a strong love for the employment, always a devotion to 
duty, and a profound conviction of the importance and sacredness of the office 
they filled. The only striking instance of disingenuousness or attempt at decep- 
tion, which I saw, was that of a teacher who looked over the manuscript books of 
a large class of his scholars, selected the best, and, bringing it to me, said, ' In 
seeing one you see aU. 

Whence came tliis beneficent order of men, scattered over the whole coun- 
try, molding the character of its people, and carrying them forward in a career 
of civilization more rapidly than any other people in tlie world are now advanc- 
ing ? This is a question which can be answered only by givmg an account of the 
Seminaries for Teachers. 

From the year 18 20 to 1830 or 1835, it was customary, in all accounts of 
Prussian education, to mention the number of these Seminaries for Teachers. 
This item of information has now become unimportant, as there are seminaries 
sufficient to supply the wants of the whole country. The stated term of resi- 
dence at these seminaries is three years. Lately, and in a few places, a class of 
preliminary institutions has sprung up, — institutions where pupils are received 
in order to determiue whether they are fit to become candidates to be candi- 
dates. As a pupil of the seminary is liable to be set aside for incompetency, 
even after a three years' course of study ; so the pupils of these preliminary in- 
stitutions, after having gone through with a shorter course, are liable to be set 
aside for incompetency to become competent. 

Let us look for a moment at the guards and securities which, in that country, 
environ this sacred calling. In the first place, the teacher's profession holds such 
a high rank in pubHc estimation, that none who have failed in other employments 
or departments of business, are encouraged to look upon school-keeping as an 
ultimate resource. Those, too, who, from any cause, despair of success in other 
departments of business or walks of life, have very slender prospects in lot)king 
forward to this. These considerations exclude at once all that inferior order of 
men who, in some countries, constitute the main body of the teachers. Then 
come, — though only in some parts of Prussia, — these preliminary schools, where 
those who wish eventually to become teachers, go, in order to have their natural 
qualities and adaptation for school- keeping tested ; for it must be borne in mind 
that a man may have the most unexceptionable character, may be capable of 
mastering all the branches of study, may even be able to make most brilliant 
recitations from day to day ; and yet, from some coldness or repulsiveness of 
manner, from harshness of voice, from some natural defect in his person or in one 
of his senses, he may be adjudged an unsuitable model or archetype for children 
to be conformed to, or to grow by ; and hence he may be dismissed at the end of 
his probationary term of six months. At one of these preparatory schools, which 
I visited, the list of subjects at the examination, — a part of which I saw, — was 
divided into two classes, as follows : — 1. Readiness in thinking, German language, 
including orthography and composition, history, description of the earth, knowl- 
edge of nature, thorough bass, calligraphy, drawing. 2. Religion, knowledge of 
the Bible, knowledge of nature, mental arithmetic, singing, violin-play uig, and 
readiness or facility in speaking. The examination in all the branches of the first 
class was conducted in writing. To test a pupil's readiness in thinking, for in- 
etance, several topics for composition are given out, and, after the lapse of a cer- 



42 RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

tain number of minutes, -whatever has been written must be handed in to the 
examiners. So questions in arithmetic are given, and the time occupied by the 
pupils in solving them, is a test of their quickness of thought, or power of com- 
manding their own resources. This facility, or faculty, is considered of great im- 
portance in a teacher.* In the second class of subjects the pupils were exam- 
ined orally. Two entire days were occupied in examining a class of thirty pupils, 
and only twenty -one were admitted to the seminary school ; — that is, 'only about 
two-thirds were considered to be eligible to become eligible, as teachers, after 
three years' further study. Thus, in this first process, the chaff is winnowed out, 
and not a few of the lighter grains of the wheat. 

It is to be understood that those Avho enter the seminary directly, and with- 
out this preliminary trial, have already studied, under able masters in the Com- 
mon Schools, at least all the branches I have above described. The first two of 
the three years, they expend mainly in reviewing and expanding theii" element- 
ary knowledge. The German language is studied in its relations to rhetoric 
and logic, and as sesthetic literature ; arithmetic is carried out into algebra and 
mixed mathematics ; geography into commerce and manufactures, and into a 
knowledge of the various botanical and zoological productions of the different 
quarters of the globe ; linear drawing into perspective and machine drawing, 
and the drawing from models of all kinds, and from objects in nature, Ac. The 
theory and practice, not only of vocal, but of instrumental music, occupy much 
time. Every pupil must play on the violin ; most of them play on the organ, 
and some on other instruments. I recollect seeing a Normal class engaged in 
learning the principles of Harmony. The teacher first explained the principles 
on which they were to proceed. He then wrote a bar of music upon the black- 
board, and called upon a pupil to write such notes for another part or accompa- 
niment, as would make harmony with the first. So he would write a bar with 
certain intervals, and then require a pupil to write another, with such intervals 
as, according to the principles of musical science, would correspond with the first. 
A thorough course of reading on the subject of education is imdertaken, as well 
as a more general course. Bible history is almost committed to memory. Con- 
nected with all the seminaries for teachers are large Model or Experimental 
Schools. During the last part of the course much of the students' time is spent 
in these schools. At first they go in and look on in silence, while an accom- 
jDlished teacher is instructing a class. Then they themselves commence teaching 
under the eye of such a teacher. At last they teach a class alone, being respon- 
sible for its proficiency, and for its condition as to order, <fec., at the end of a week 
or other period. During the whole course, there are lectures, discussions, com- 
positions, cfec, on the theory and practice of teaching. The essential qualifications 
of a candidate for the office, his attainments, and the spirit of devotion and of 
religious fidelity in which he should enter upon his work ; the modes of teaching 
the different branches ; the motive-powers to be applied to the minds of chil- 
dren ; dissertations upon the different natural dispositions of children, and, con- 
sequently, the different ways of addressing them, of securing their confidence and 
affection, and of winning them to a love of learning and a sense of duty ; and es- 
pecially the sacredness of the teacher's profession, — the idea that he stands, for 
the time being, in the place of a parent, and therefore that a parent's responsi- 
bilities rest upon him, tliat the most precious hopes of society are committed to 
his charge, and that on him depends, to a great extent, the temporal and per- 
haps the future well-being of hundreds of his fellow-creatures, — these are the 
conversations, the ideas, the feelings, amid which the candidate for teaching 
spends his probationary years. This is the daily atmosphere he breathes. These 
are the sacred, elevating, invigorating influences constantly pouring in upon hia 
soul. Hence, at the expiration of his course, he leaves the seminary to enter 
upon his profession, glowing with enthusiasm for the noble cause he has espoused, 
and strong in his resolves to perform its manifold and momentous duties. 

Here, then, is the cause of the worth and standing of the teachers, whom I 
had the pleasure and the honor to see. As a body of men, their character is 

* The above described is a very cojnmon method of examining in the gymnasia and higher 
seminaries of Prussia. Certain sealed subjects tor an exercise are given to the students ; they are 
then locked up in a room, each by himself, and at the expiiation of a given time, they ai'e ejk- 
larged, and it is seen what each orie has been able to make out of his faculties. 



RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 43 

more enviable than that of either of the tliree, so-called, ' professions. They 
have more benevolence and self-sacrifice than the legal or medical, -^vhile they 
have less of sanctimoniousness and austerity, less of indisposition to enter into 
all the innocent amusements and joyous feelings of childhood, than the clerical. 
They are not unmindful of what belongs to men wliile they are serving God ; nor 
of the duties they owe to this world while preparing for another. 

On reviewing a period of six weeks, the greater part of which I spent in 
visiting schools in the north and middle of Prussia and in Saxony (excepting, of 
course, the time occupied in going from place to place), entering the schools to 
hear the first recitation in the morning, and remaining till the last was completed 
at night, I call to mind three things about which I cannot be mistaken. In some 
of my opinions and inferences I may have erred, but of the following facts there 
can be no doubt : 

1. During all this time, I never saw a teacher hearing a lesson of any kind 
(excepting a reading or spelling lesson), with a book in his hand. 

2. I never saw a teacher Miiiay while hearing a recitation. 

3. Though I saw hundreds of schools, and thousands, — I think I may say, 
within bounds, tens of thousands of pupils, — / never saw one child undergoing 
punishment, or arraigned for misconduct. I never saw one child in tears from 
having bee7i jnmished, or from fear of being punished. 

During the above period, I witnessed exercises in geography, ancient and 
modern; in the German language, — from the explanation of the simplest words' 
up to belles-lettres disquisitions, with rules for speaking and writing ; — in arith- 
metic, algebra, geometry, surveying, and trigonometry ; in book-keeping ; in civil 
history, ancient and modern ; in natural philosophy ; in botany and zoology ; in 
mineralogy, where there were hundreds of specimens ; in the endless variety of 
the exercises in thinking, knowledge of nature, of the world, and of society ; in 
Bible history and in Bible knowledge ; — and, as I before said, in no one of these 
cases did I see a teacher with a book in his hand. His book, — his books, — his 
library, was in his head. Promptly, without pause, without hesitation, from the 
rich resources of his own mind, he brought forth whatever the occasion demand- 
ed. I remember calling one morning at a country school in Saxony, where every 
thing about the premises, and the appearance, both of teacher and children, 
indicated very narrow pecuniary circumstances. As I entered, the teacher was 
just ready to commence a lesson or lecture on French history. He gave not 
only the events of a particular period in the histoiy of France, but mentioned, as 
he proceeded, all the contemporary sovereigns of neighboring nations. The or- 
dinary time for a lesson here, as elsewhere, was an hour. This was somewhat 
longer, for, toward the close, the teacher entered upon a train of thought from 
which it was difficult to break off, and rose to a strain of eloquence which it was 
delightful to hear. The scholars were all absorbed in attention. They had pa- 
per, pen, and ink before them, and took brief notes of what was said. When the 
lesson touched upon contemporary events in other nations, — which, as I suppose, 
had been the subject of previous lessons, — the pupils were questioned concern- 
ing them. A small text-book of liistory was used by the pupils, which they 
studied at home. 

I ought to say further, that I generally visited schools without guide, or let- 
ter of introduction, — presenting myself at the door, and asking the favor of ad- 
mission. Though I had a general order from the Minister of Public Instruction, 
commanding all schools, gymnasia, and universities in the kingdom to be opened 
for my inspection, yet I seldom exhibited it, or spoke of it, — at least not until I 
was about departing. I preferred to enter as a private individual, an uncom- 
mended visitor. 

I have said that I saw no teacher sitting in his school. Aged or young, all 
stood. Nor did they stand apart and aloof in sullen dignity. They mingled 
with their pupils, passing rapidly from one side of the class to the other, animat- 
ing, encouraging, sympathizing, breathing life into less active natures, assuring 
the timid, distributing encouragement and endearment to all. The looks of the 
Prussian teacher often have the expression and vivacity of an actor in a play.' 
He gesticulates like an orator. His body assumes all the attitudes, and liis face 
puts on all the variety of expression, which a pubhc speaker would do if ha- 
ranguing a large assembly on a topic vital to their interests. 



44. RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

It may seem singular, and perhaps to some almost ludicrous, that a teacher 
in expounding the tirst rudiments of handwriting, in teaching the difference be- 
tween a hair-stroke and a ground-stroke, or how an I may be turned into a h, or 
a u into a w, should be able to work himself up into an oratorical fervor ; should 
attitudinize, and gesticulate, and stride from one end of the class to the other, 
and appear in every way to be as intensely engaged as an advocate when argu- 
ing an important cause to a jury ; — but, strange as it may seem, it is neverthe- 
less true ; and before five minutes of such a lesson had elapsed, I have seen the 
children wrought up to an excitement proportionally intense, hanging upon the 
teacher's lips, catching every word he says, and evincing great elation or depres- 
sion of spirits, as they had or had not succeeded in following his instructions. So 
I have seen the same rhetorical vehemence on the, part of the teacher, and the 
same interest and animation on the part of the pupils, during a lesson on the 
original sounds of the letters, — that is, the difference between the long and the 
short sound of a vowel, or the difierent ways of opening the mouth in sounding 
the consonants b and p. The zeal of the teacher enkindles the scholars. He 
charges them with his own electricity to tiie point of explosion. Such a teacher 
has no idle, miscluevous, whispering children around him, nor any occasion for the 
rod. He does not make desolation of all the active and playful impulses of 
childhood, and call it peace ; nor, to secure stillness among his scholars, does he 
find it necessary to ride them with the nightmare of fear. I rarely saw a teacher 
put questions with his lips alone. He seems so much interested in his subject 
(though he might have been teaching the same lesson for the hundredth or five 
hundredth time), that his whole body is in motion ; — eyes, arms, limbs, all con- 
tributing to the impression he desires to make ; and, at the end of an hour, both 
he and his pupils come from the work all glowing with excitement. 

Suppose a lawyer in one of our courts were to plead an important cause be- 
fore a jury, but instead of standing and extemporizing, and showing by his ges- 
tures, and by the energy and ardor of his whole manner, that he felt an interest 
in his theme, instead of rising with his subject and coruscating with flashes of 
genius and wit, he should plant Iiiuiself lazily down in a chair, read from some 
old book which scarcely a member of the panel could fully understand, and, after 
droning away for an hour, should leave them, without having distinctly impressed 
their minds with one fact, or led them to form one logical conclusion ; — would it 
be any Avonder if he left half of them joking with each other, or asleep ; — would 
it be any Avonder, — provided he were followed on the other side by an advocate 
of brilliant parts, of elegant diction and attractive manner, — who should pour 
Bunshine into the darkest recesses of the case, — if he lost not only his own repu- 
tation, but the cause of liis client also ? 

These incitements and endearments of the teacher, this personal ubiquity, as 
it were, among all the pupils in the class, prevailed much more, as the pupils 
were younger. Before the older classes, the teacher's manner became calm and 
didactic. The habit of attention being once formed, nothing was left for subse- 
quent years or teachers, but the easy task of maintaining it. Was there ever 
such a comment as this an the practice of hiring cheap teachers because the school 
is young, or incompetent ones because it is backward ! 

In Prussia and in Saxony, as well as in Scotland, the power of commanding 
and retaining the attention of a class is held to be a sine qua non in a teacher's 
qualifications. If he has not talent, skill, vivacity, or resources of anecdote and 
wit, sufficient to arouse and retain the attention of liis pupils during the accus- 
tomed period of recitation, he is deemed to have mistaken his calling, and re- 
ceives a significant hint to change liis vocation. 

Take a group of fittle children to a toy-shop, and witness their outbursting 
eagerness and delight. Tiiey need no stimulus of badges or prizes to arrest or 
sustain their attention ; they need no quickening of their fiiculties by rod or 
ferule. To the exclusion of food and sleep they will push their inquiries, until 
shape, color, quality, use, substance, both external and internal, of the objects 
around them, are exhausted ; and each child will want the show-man wholly to 
himself. But in all the boundless variety and beauty of nature's works; in that 
profusion and prodigality of charms with which the Creator has adorned and en- 
riclied every part of his creation ; in the dehghts of affection ; in the ecstatic joys 
of benevolence ; in the absorbing interest which an unsophisticated conscience 



RESULTS OF NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 45 

instinctively takes in all questions of right and wrong ; — in all these, is there not 
as much to challenge and command the attention of a little child, as in the curi- 
osities of a toy-shop ? When as much of human art and ingenuity shall have 
been expended upon teaching as upon toys, there will be less difference between 
the cases. 

The third circumstance I mentioned above was the beautiful relation of har- 
mony and affection which subsisted between teacher and pupils. I cannot say 
that the extraordinary fact I have mentioned was not the result of chance or ac- 
cident. Of the probability of that, others must judge. I can only say that, dur- 
ing all the time mentioned, I never saw a blow struck, I never heard a sharp 
rebuke given, I never saw a child in tears, nor an-aigned at the teacher's bar for 
any alleged misconduct. On the contrary, the relation seemed to be one of duty 
first, and then affection, on the part of the teacher, — of affection first, and then 
duty, on the part of the scholar. The teacher's manner was better than parent- 
al, for it had a parent's tenderness and vigilance, without the foolish dotings 
or indulgences to which parental afifection is prone. I heard no child ridiculed, 
sneered at, or scolded, for making a mistake. On the contrary, whenever a mis- 
take was made, or there was a want of promptness in giving a reply, the expres- 
sion of the teacher was that of grief and disappointment, as though there had 
been a failure, not merely to answer tlie question of a master, but to comply 
with the expectations of a friend. No child was disconcerted, disabled, or be- 
reft of his senses, through fear. Nay, generally, at the ends of the answers, the 
teacher's practice is to encourage him with the exclamation, ' good,' ' right,' 
' wholly right,' &c., or to check him, with his slowly and painfully articulated 
' no ;' and this is done with a tone of voice that marks every degree of plus and 
minus in the scale of approbation and regret. When a difficult question has 
been put to a young child, which tasks all his energies, the teacher approaches 
him with a mingled look of concern and encouragement ; he stands before him, 
the light and shade of hope and fear alternately crossing his countenance ; he 
lifts liis arms and turns his body, — as a bowler who has given a wrong direction 
to his bowl will writhe his person to bring the ball back upon its track ; — and 
finally, if the httle wrestler with difficulty triumphs, the teacher felicitates him 
upon his success, perhaps seizes and shakes him by the hand, in token of con- 
gratulation ; and, when the difficulty has been really formidable, and the effort 
triumphant, I have seen the teacher catch up the child in his arms and embrace 
him, as though he were not able to contain his joy. At another time, I have 
seen a teacher actually clap his hands with delight at a bright reply ; and all 
this has been done so naturally and so unaffectedly as to excite no other feeling 
in the residue of the children than a desire, by the same means, to win the same 
caresses. What person worthy of being called by the name, or of sustaining the 
sacred relation of a parent, would not give any thing, bear any thing, sacrifice 
any thing, to have his children, during eight or ten years of the period of their 
childhood, surrounded by circumstances, and breathed upon by sweet and hu- 
manizina: influences, like these !" 

The Rev. Egerton Ryerson, D. D.. Chief Superintendent of Schools, in 
a " Report on a System of Public Elementary Instruction for Upper 
Canada,'''' after quoting the above passages from Mr, Mann's report, re- 
marks : 

" In the above summary and important statements on this subject, by the 
able Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, I fully concur, with 
two slight exceptions. In one instance I did see a boy in tears (in Berlin) when 
removed to a lower class on account of negligence in his school preparations. 
I did see one or two old men sitting occasionally in school. With these excep- 
tions, my own similar inquiries and experience of nearlj' three months in South- 
ern and Western, as well as Northern and Middle Germany, and I might add 
a longer period of like investigations in Switzerland, Holland, Belgium and 
France — enable me not only to subscribe to the statements of the Hon. Mr. 
Mann, but would enable me, were it necessary, to illustrate them by various 
details of visits to individual schools." 



46 RESULTS OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

Professor Lemuel Stephens, now of Girard College of Orphans, Phila- 
delphia, in a " Letter addressed to Hon. F. R. Shunk, Superintendent of 
Common Schools in Pennsylvania,'" from Berlin, in 1843, remarks : 

"To determine absolutely the influence which teachers' seminaries have had 
upon the state of popular education in Germany, would be a matter of great 
ditficiilty, owing to the gradual growth of these institutions. One thing is cer- 
tain, that the improvement of the schools has followed, hand in hand, the mul- 
tiplication and improvement of the seminaries. Perhaps the value of these in- 
stitutions can be shown in no light so advantageously, as by comparing the 
class of common school teachers in Germany, at the present moment, with the 
same class in England and America. In this country one is struck with the 
zeal and common spirit which a common education has imparted to the whole 
body. They have been for three or four years under the instruction of men 
practically and scientifically acquainted with the best principles of teaching; 
and what is an indispensable part of their preparation, they have had the op- 
portunity of testing the value, and of becoming familiar with the application of 
these principles in practice. During the latter part of their course they have 
been accustomed, under the eye of their teachers, to instruct a school of child- 
ren by which means the art and the theory have kept pace with each oiher. 
Some knowledge of the human mind, and some just conception of the great 
problem of education which they are engaged in solving, inspires them with 
self-respect, with earnestness and love of their profession. Once raised above 
the idea that education consists alone in drilling children in a few useful ac- 
complishments, a sense of the dignity of the work of operating on, and forming 
other minds, causes them to overlook the humble outward conditions of a vil» 
lage school, and fortifies them against the seductions of false ambition. 

Leaving out of the question the great immediate benefit of these seminaries 
in tilting teachers better to fill their office, I believe that the professional spirit, 
the esprit du corps, which they create, is productive of results which are alone 
sufficient to recommend these institutions. It is this common spirit M'hich se- 
cures the progress of the young teacher after he has entered into active service, 
and saves him from the besetting sin of rusting into a mechanical routine, by 
keeping up a lively interchange of opinions, and making him acquainted with 
the successes and improvements of other teachers. The means for this inter- 
course, are conferences and periodicals of education. In every German city, in 
which I have made the inquiry, I have learned that the teachers from the dif- 
ferent schools are accustomed to come together, at stated times, for the pur- 
pose of mutual improvement: even in the villages of Hesse, and the mountain- 
ous part of Saxony, I found that the teachers, from villages miles apart, held 
their monthly conferences for debate and lecture. 

In Germany there are no leiss than thirty periodicals devoted exclusively to 
education. In these all questions of interest to teachers are discussed; the best 
method of instructing explained, all new school books noticed and criticised: 
the arrangements and organizations of distinguished schools described, and ac- 
counts given from time to time of the progress of education in other states. 
The General School Gazette, which has particularly attracted my attention, 
has a list of more than one hundred regular contributors. The journals are 
open to all teachers to make known their experience, or to ask for informa- 
tion. The able director of the seminary in this city, who is at the same lime 
the conductor of one of these periodicals, informs me that one or more of them 
finds its way to every common school teacher. They are furnished so low that 
he can generally afford to take them, or if not, they are taken by the district for 
his benefit. By these means an active spirit of inquiry is kept up ; the improve- 
ments of individuals become the property of all; the obscure village teacher 
feels that he is a member of a large and respectable class, engaged in the great 
work of human improvement ; and love and zeal for his profession are enkindled. 
There is union, sympathy, generous emulation and mutual improvement. 
Among the members of a profession, there is a common principle of life. It is 
a type of organic life, which contains within itself the principle of development 
and growth. 

A valuable ordinance passed in Prussia, in 1826, and renewed in 1846, re- 
qnires a director of a seminary to travel about once a year, and visit a certain 
part of the schools within his circuit. He makes himself acquainted with the 



RESULTS OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. . 4Y 

State of the school, listens to the instruction given, takes part himself in the 
same, and gives to the teacher such hints for improvement as his observation 
may suggest. The results of his yearly visits he presents in the form of a re- 
port to the school authorities of the province. This occasional visitation is 
very useful in clearing up the dark corners of the land, correcting abuses, and 
giving an impulse, from time lo time, to teachers, who might otherwise sink into 
apathy and neglect. To render the efficacy of the seminaries more complete, 
it is provided that at the end of three years after leaving the seminary, the 
yaui.g teachers shall return to pass a second examination. And further, by an 
ordinance in 182G, it is provided, 'To the end, that the beneficial influence of 
the seminary may extend itself to those teachers already established, who either 
require further instruction, or who in their own cultivation and skill in office 
do not advance, perhaps even recede; it is required that such teachers be re- 
called into the seminary for a shorter or longer time, as may be needful for 
them, in order, either to pass through a whole methodical course, or to prac- 
tice themselves in particular departments of instruction.' By this organization 
it is very easy to see that the whole system of popular instruction is brought 
under the influence of the most able teachers; their skill is made to tell upon 
the character of the class; and the assurance is given that the work of educa- 
tion is advancing surely and consequently toward perfection. 

It is only by the distinct division of the objects of human industry and knowl- 
edge, into separate arts and sciences, that their advancement can be insured. 
The necessity for the division of labor in the mechanic arts is well enough un- 
derstood. A necessity for this division, in intellectual pursuits, exists in a by 
no means less degree. So long as the science of education depends for its de- 
velopment upon the casual contributions of men of all professions, without 
being made the business of any, it must grope its way hither and thither by the 
light of occasional flashes, instead of being guided on by a steady flame. 

The views of certain men on education are known among us, but so far is 
pedsgogics from being cultivated as a science, we feel ourselves as yet hardly 
authorized to use the word. I am far from denying that we have many very 
good teachers ; but they stand separate and alone. Their influence rarely ex- 
tends beyond the sphere of their own schools. Their experience has furnished 
them with excellent practical rules for their own procedure, but these rules 
have perhaps never been expressed in words, much less their truth demon- 
strated by a reduction of the same to scientific principles. They are content to 
be known as possessing the mysterious talent of a skillful teacher, and their 
wisdom dies with them. It is owing to the isolated position in, which teachers 
by profession find themselves, that the didactic skill they may have acquired, 
even when it rises above the character of a blind faculty, and is founded on 
the enlightened conclusions of science, still remains almost without influence 
on the wrong ideas in education which may be in vogue around them. To 
quote a remark of Dr. Harnisch : ' we have had, now and then, capable teach- 
ers without possessing seminaries: we still find such singly in states which yet 
have no seminaries, but it can not be denied that seminaries are most effectual 
levers for elevating the condition of common schools, and such they have suffi- 
ciently proved themselves to be in latter years.' " 

" How far may we avail ourselves of the German plan of popular education *? 
It will be borne in mind, that the Prussian system is so far voluntary that it is 
left entirely to the parent where, and in what manner, his child shall be edu- 
cated, only requiring that the years, from six till fourteen, shall be devoted to 
instruction, and that a certain amount of knowledge shall be obtained. The 
Swiss republics have placed their public schools on the same basis that the 
German states have done, their laws are essentially the same, and teachers 
have therefore, there as well as in Germany, the character of public servants. 
The great feature of the Prussian system, which it is both suitable and highly 
desirable for us to imitate, is that which I have already described, namely : the 
provision therein made for the education of common school teachers. This 
appears to me the only radical reform, and the only means of putting public 
education in a steady and consequent train of improvement. 

To apply to ourselves the advantages which I have already stated as flowing 
from this measure— It will raise the employment of teaching among us to a 
regular profession, and introduce generally consistent and rational methods of 



4g RESULTS OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

instructing. It will create among teachers, devotion to their office, and a de^ 
sire for co-operation. This desire will manifest itself in the organization of 
unions for conference, and in the establishment and support of many periodicals. 
The higher character of teachers, and the improved state of the schools^ will 
bring them respect, and a better remuneration for their services. The higher 
value set upon education, the- immense contrast between the efficacy of a con- 
stant, and that of a half-yearly school, and I must add, the impossibility of get- 
ting good teachers for the latter, will gradually do away with this great evil under 
which our school system suffers. 'I'he permanent settlement of teachers, ren- 
dering much less the annual accession to the profession necessary to keep the 
schools supplied, will, as I have shown, obviate all difficulty on the score of 
numbers. The science of the human mind and its cultivation, this vitally im- 
portant branch of a nation's literature, will be developed among us, and its 
blessings will be richly manifested in the better cultivation of all the sciences 
and arts of life. 

Such is a scanty outline of the benefits which the experience of other coun- 
tries, and reason, show us will follow the proper education of our teachers. I do 
not mean to say that Germany has already realized all these benefits. It is 
important to observe that the reform in education in this country, goes out from 
the government, not from the people themselves, who rather passively submit 
to its operation, than actively co-operate in giving it efficacy. This, with other 
grounds before stated, necessarily make popular education in Germany produc- 
tive of less results than in our own country. * * 

In the establishment of teachers' seminaries, their utility and success will de- 
pend entirely upon their appropriate and perfect organization. False economy 
has often attempted to provide for the education of primary teachers, by 
making the seminary an appendage to a high school, or an academy. Thirty 
years ago this arrangement was not uncommon in Germany ; and later the experi- 
ment has been tried in the State of New York. * * If it were needed, to 
strengthen the evidence of the inefficiency of this system, I might easily quote 
the testimony of the most able teachers of Germany to this effect. Perhaps no 
department of education requires a more peculiar treatment, and more calls for 
the undivided zeal and energy of those who have the conduct of it, than the 
preparation of teachers. 

Every thing depends on making the seminaries for teachers, separate and 
independent establishments, with a careful provision for a thorough, theoretical 
and practical preparation for all the duties of the common school. In the ex- 
periment of introducing teachers' seminaries into our country, there is a dan- 
ger that we shall be too sparing in the number of teachers employed in con- 
ducting them. Seminaries conducted by one or two teachers can not be other- 
wise than imperfect; and while but little good would come from them, there is 
great danger that their failure would serve to bring the cause into disrepute." 



PRUSSIA, 



The system of Public Instruction in Prussia embraces three degrees, 
provided lor in three classes of institutions. 1. Primary or Elementary 
Instruction, conveyed in schools corresponding to our common schools. 
2. Secondary Instruction, provided for in Gymnasia, Real Schools and 
Trade Schools. 3. Superior instruction, communicated in the Universi- 
ties. We shall confine our attention to Primary Instruction, and shall 
present a general idea of the system from various authorities.* 

As early as the reign of the Elector Joachim the Second, before the 
kingdom of Prussia existed, except as the Mark of Brandenburg, (1540,) 
visitors were appointed to inspect the town schools of the Electorate, with 
express directions to report in relation to the measures deemed necessary 
for their improvement. In 1545, the same elector appointed a permanent 
council or board, on church and school matters. In a decree of some 
length, by the elector John George, (1573,) special sections are devoted 
to the schools, to teachers and their assistants, and to pupils. It is re- 
markable as containing a provision for committees of superintendence, 
consisting of the parish clergyman, the magistrates and two notables, 
exactly similar in constitution to the present school committees. 

In 1777, a decree of Frederick William the First, king of Prussia, en- 
joins upon parents to send their children to school, provides for the pay- 
ment of teachers, for the education of poor children, and for catechetical 
instruction by the parochial clergymen. In 1735, the first regular semi- 
nary for teachers in Prussia was established at Stettin, in Pomerania, 
To induce a better attendance at school, a decree of 1736 requires that 
the parent of every child between five and twelve years of age, shall pay 
a certain fee, whetlier his child goes to school or not ; this rule being, as 
it were, preliminary to the present one of forced attendance. The same 
decree refers to school-houses erected by associated parishes, showing, 
that such associations existed previously to the decree for providing pub- 
lic schools ; similar associations may even now exist, but they are not 
numerous, forming exceptions to the general rule requiring each parish 
to have its public school. The decree provides further for the amount of 
fees to be paid to the teacher by the pupils, the church, or the state, and 
for aid to peasants who have more than two children above five years of 
age, by the payment of the fees of all over this number from a school fund. 
A rescript of 1738, constitutes the clergy the inspectors of schools. 

Bache's '■^ Report on Education in Europe." Cousin's '^Report on Primary Instruction in 
some of the folates of Germany, and particularly in Prussia." Prof. Stephens's " Letter to the 
Superintendent of Common Schools in Pennsylvania in 1843." Recent School Docu- 
ments from Germany, by Harnisch, CaUnich, Jacobi and others. 

4 



50 PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN PRUSSIA. 

An attempt to provide more precisely, by law, for the regulation of the 
Bchools in Berlin, was made by a decree of 1738. This decree requires 
that teachers shall be regularly examined by the inspectors of schools 
before being allowed to teach, and prescribes their acquirements in detail. 
It directs the opening and closing of the schools with prayers ; fixes the 
hours of daily attendance at from eight to eleven, or seven to ten in the 
morning, and one to three in the afternoon ; prescribes instruction in 
spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, and singing, and regulates the 
emoluments and perquisites of the master. 

A new impulse was given to public instruction under the reign of 
Frederick the Great. The regulations drawn up by Hecker, and approved 
by the king, (1763,) are very precise, and though they have been in part 
superseded by later decrees, many of their provisions are still in force. 
They provide for the selection of school books by the consistory ; that 
children shall be sent to school at five years of age, and be kept there un- 
til thirteen or fourteen, or until they have made satisfactory attainments 
in reading and writing, in the knowledge of Christian doctrine, and of 
such matters as are to be found in their text-books ; fix the school- hours, 
requiring six hours a day for instruction in winter, and three in summer, 
and one hour of catechetical instruction, besides the Sunday teaching ; 
require that all unmarried persons of the parish shall attend the hour of 
instruction in the catechism, and besides, receive lessons in reading and 
writing from the Bible. The regulations provide anew for the school- 
masters' fees, and for the instruction of poor children ; require that the 
schoolmaster shall be furnished from the church-register with a list of all 
the children of the age to attend school, and that he shall prepare a list of 
those who are actually in attendance, and submit both to the clergyman, 
in his periodical visits; direct anew the examination of candidates for the 
situation of schoolmaster, and refer particularly to the advantages of the 
seminary opened at Berlin tor preparing teachers for the Mark of Bran- 
denburg; lay down minutely the scheme of elementary instruction, and 
actually specify the time to be devoted to the different branches, with 
each of the two classes composing the school ; require the parochial 
clergy to visit the schools twice a week, and inspectors of circles to per- 
form the same service at least once a year. 

The decree of Frederick regulating the Catholic schools of Silesia, 
(1765,) is even more particular than the foregoing. It shows the settled 
policy in regard to educating teachers in special seminaries, now so im- 
portant a part of the Prussian system, by setting apart certain schools by 
name for this purpose, requiring the appointment of a director to each, 
and assigning his duties. 

In 1787, Frederick William the Second created a council of instruction, 
under the title of an '"Upper School Board," (Ober-Schul Collegium,) of 
which the minister of state was president. 1 he council was directed to 
examine text-books, and to pass upon the licenses of masters, on the re- 
ports of the provincial school-boards. They were authorized to erect 
seminaries for teachers at the government expense, and to frame their 
regulations ; to send out an inspector from their body to examine any part 
of public instruction, and to rectify all wrongs by-a direct order, or through 
the school-boards of the provinces, the school committees or patrons. 
This organization remained substantially in force until the separation of 
the departments of state and instruction in 1817, with the creation of a 
ministry of public instruction. The attributes of this upper school board, 
it will be seen, now belong to that council. 

The school plan of 1763 was modified by an ordinance of 1794, which in- 
troduces geography and natural history in the elementary schools, and 
refers to vocal music as one of their most important exercises ; it also at- 
tempts, by minute prescriptions, to introduce uniformity in the methods of 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN PRUSSIA. 



51 



instruction and discipline. The regulation for the catholic schools of 
Silesia was also revised in 1801. 

JBut the most important era in the history of public instruction in Prus- 
sia, as well as in other parts of Germany, opens with the efforts put forth 
by the king and people, to rescue the kingdom from the yoke of Napo- 
leon in 1809. In that year the army was remodeled and every citizen 
converted into a soldier; landed property was declared free of feudal 
service ; restrictions on freedom of trade were abolished, and the whole 
Btate was reorganized. Great reliance was placed on infusing a German 
spirit into the people by giving them freer access to improved institutions 
of education, from the common school to the university. Under the 
councils of Hardenberg, Humbolt, Stein, Altenstein, these reforms and 
improvements were projected, carried on, and perfected in less than a 
single generation. 

The movement in behalf of popular schools commenced by inviting C. 
A. Zeller, of Wirtemberg, to Prussia. Zeller was a young theologian, 
who had studied under Pestalozzi in Switzerland, and was thoroughly 
imbued with the method and spirit of his master. On his return he had 
convened the school teachers of Wirtemberg in barns, for want of better 
accommodations being allowed him, and inspired them with a zeal for 
Pestalozzi's methods, and for a better education of the whole people. On 
removing to Prussia, he first took charge of the seminary at Koenigsberg, 
soon after founded the seminary at Karalene, and went about into differ- 
ent provinces meeting with teachers, holding conferences, visiting 
schools, and inspiring school officers with the right spirit. 

The next step taken was to send a number of young men, mostly theo- 
logians, to Pestalozzi's institution at Ifferten, to acquire his method, and 
on their return to place them in new, or reorganized teachers' seminaries. 
To these new agents in school improvement were joined a large body ot 
zealous teachers, and patriotic and enlightened citizens, who, in ways 
and methods of their own, labored incessantly to confirm the Prussian 
state, by forming new organs for its internal fife, and new means of pro- 
tection from foreign foes. They proved themselves truly educators of the 
people. Although the government thus not only encouraged, but directly 
aided in the introduction of the methods of Pestalozzi into the public 
schools of Prussia, still the school board in the different provinces sus- 
tained and encouraged those who approved and taught on different sys- 
tems, such as Dinter, Zerrenner, Salzman. and Niemeyer — all, in fine, 
who labored with a patriotic purpose, thus allowing intellectual freedom, 
and appropriating whatever was good from all quarters toward the accom- 
plishment of the great purpose. 

To infuse a German spirit into teachers and scholars, particular atten- 
tion was paid to the German language, as the treasury house of Ger- 
man ideas, and to the geography and history of the father land. IMusic, 
which was one of Pestalozzi's great instruments of culture, was made the 
vehicle of patriotic songs, and through them the heart of all Germany 



52 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN PRUSSIA. 



was moved to bitter hatred of the conqueror who had desolated her fields 
and homes, and humbled the pride of her monarchy. All these efforts 
for the improvement of elementary education, accompanied by expensive 
modifications in the establishments of secondary and superior education, 
were made v\?hen the treasury was impoverished, and taxes, the most 
exorbitant in amount, were levied on every province and commune of 
the kingdom. Prof Stephens, now of Girard College, in a letter to the 
Superintendent of Common Schools of Pennsylvania, written from Berlin, 
at a time when there was at least a talk of the repudiation of state debts, 
and especially when a distinguished citizen of that state had proposed to 
divert the money appropriated for the support of common schools to the 
payment of interest on the state debts, makes the following remarks on 
this period of the educational history of Prussia. 

"Prussia, who furnishes us with a pattern of excellence in the present 
stale of her public schools, affords us a still more brilliant example in the 
noble policy by which she sustained them in times of great public distress. 
Of all the nations of Europe, Prussia was reduced to the greatest extrem- 
ity by the wars of Napoleon. In 1806, at the battle of Jena, her whole 
military force was annihilated. Within a week after the main overthrow, 
every scattered division of the army fell into the hands of the enemy. 
Napoleon took up his quarters in Berlin, emptied the arsenal, and stripped 
the capital of all the works of art which he thought worthy to be trans- 
ported to Paris. By the treaty of Tilsit, in 1807, the king of Prussia was 
deprived of one-half of his dominions. A French army of 200,000 men 
were q^uartered upon the Prussians till the end of the year 1808. Prussia 
must pay to Prance the sum of 120,000,000 francs, after her principal 
sources of income had been approjiriated by Napoleon, either to himself 
or his allies. The system of confiscation went so iar that even the revenue 
from the endowments of schools, of poor houses, and the fund for widows, 
was diverted into the treasury of France. These last were given back 
in 1811. Foreign loans were made, to meet the exorbitant claims of the 
conqueror. An army must be created, bridges rebuilt, ruined fortifications 
in every quarter repaired, and so great was the public extremity that the 
Prussian ladies, with noble generosity, sent their ornaments and jewels to 
supply the royal treasury. Rings, crosses, and other ornaments of cast- 
iron were given in return to all those who had made this sacrifice. They 
bore the inscription, " Ich gab gold um eisen,'''' (I gave gold for iron,) and 
such Spartan jewels are much treasured at this day by the possessors 
and their families. This state of things lasted till after the " War of 
Liberation," in 1812. But it is the pride of Prussia, that at the time of 
her greatest humiliation and distress, she never for a moment lost sight of 
the work she had begun in the improvement of her schools. 

In 1809, the minister at the head of the section of instruction, writes aa 
follows, to some teachers who had been sent to the institution of Pesta- 
lozzi to learn his method and principles of instructing :— " The section of 
public instruction begs you to believe, and to a.ssure Mr. Pestalozzi, that 
the cause is the interest of the government, and of his majesty, the king, 
personally, who are convinced that liberation from extraordinary calami- 
ties is fruitless, and only to be effected by a thorough improvement of the 
people's education." In 1809, was established the teachers' seminary in 
Koenigsberg. In 1810, the seminary at Braunsburg. In 1811, the semi- 
nary at Karalene. In 1812, was established at Breslau, the first seminary, 
completely organized according to the new ideas. In 1809, the most am- 
ply endowed and completely organized of all the German universities 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN PRUSSIA. 53 

was founded in Berlin. Professors were called from all parts, and in ISIO 
the university was in full operation. In 1811, the old university of Bres- 
lau was reorganized, and large grants were received from the government 
for new buildings and new professorships. Is not this noble policy, on the 
part of an absolute government, at a time when the nation was struggling 
for existence, a severe rebuke upon the narrow and short-sighted expedi- 
ents of those republican politicians, who can invent no better way to pay 
a public debt than by converting into money that institution on which the 
virtue and intelligence of the people, and the special safety of a republican 
state, mainly depend 1" 

The school system of Prussia, is not the growth of any one period, and is 
not found in one law, but is made up of an aggregation of laws and general 
regulations, enacted at different times for different provinces, differing in 
the condition, habits, and religion of the people, and to meet particular 
wants, as these have been developed in the progress of the system. An 
attempt was made in 1819 to prepare a general school law tor Prussia, 
but without success. This is considered by Harnisch and other German 
educators, a great defect, as it leads to great inequalities of education, 
and great irregularities of administration in different provinces. The or- 
dinance of 1819, however, embraces much of the regulations which are 
applicable to the whole kingdom, while the peculiarities and details of 
the system must be looked for in the provincial ordinances and special 
regulations. 

The authorities which administer public mstruction in Prussia are the 
following : — The chief authority is the minister, who joins to this super- 
vision that of ecclesiastical and medical affairs. He is assisted by a coun- 
cil, consisting of a variable number of members, and divided into three 
sections corresponding to the three charges of the minister. The section 
for public instruction has its president and secretary, and meets usually 
twice a week for the transaction of business. One of this body is gene- 
rally deputed as extraordinary inspector in cases requiring examination, 
and reports to the minister. The kingdom of Prussia is divided into ten 
provinces, each of which has its governor, styled Superior President, 
(Obcr-President,) who is assisted by a council called a Consistory, (Con- 
sistorium.) This council has functions in the province similar to those in 
the ministerial council in the kingdom at large, and has direct control of 
secondary pubUc instruction, and of the schools for the education of pri- 
mary teachers. It is subdivided into two sections, of which one has charge 
of the primary instruction in the province, under the title of the School 
Board, (Provincial Schul Collegium.) The school board, in addition to 
exercising the general supervision of education in the province, examines 
the statutes and regulations of the schools, insures the execution of exist- 
ing laws and regulations, examines text-books, and gives permission for 
their introduction, after having obtained the approbation of the ministry. 
This board communicates with the higher authorities, through their pre- 
sident, to whom the reports from the next lower authority, to be presently 
spoken of, are addressed, and by whom, when these relate to school 
matters, they are referred to the board for examination. 

The next smaller political division to a province, is called a Regency, 
(Regierungs-Bezirk,) which is again subdivided into Circles, ('Kreisin,) 
and those into parishes, (Gemeinden.) The chief civil authority in the 
Regency, is a president, who is assisted by a council called also a regency. 

This body is divided into three sections, having charge respectively of 



54 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN PRUSSIA. 



the internal affairs, of direct taxes, and of church and school matters. 
The last named committee examines and appoints all the teachers ot 
elementary and burgher schools within the regency, superintends the 
schools, ascertains that the school-houses and churches are duly kept in 
order, administers the funds of schools and churches, or superintends the 
administration, when vested in corporations, and collects the church and 
school fees. This committee is presided over by a member of the re- 
gency called the School Councilor, (Schul-rath.) As councilor, he has 
a seat and voice in the provincial consistory, where he is required to ap- 
pear at least once a year, and to report upon their affairs in his regency, 
of which the provincial consistory has the superintendence. It is also his 
duty to visit the schools, and to satisfy himself that they are in good con- 
dition. 

The next school authority is the inspector of a circle, who has charge 
of several parishes. These inspectors are generally clergymen, while 
the councilors are laymen. Next below the special superintendents is the 
immediate authority, namely, the school committe,e, (Schul-Vorstand.) 
Each parish (Gemeinde) must, bj^ law, have its school, except in special 
cases, and each school its committee of superintendence, (Schul-Vorstand,) 
consisting of the curate, the local magistrate, and from two to four nota- 
bles; the constitution of the committee varying somewhat with the char- 
acter of the school, whether endowed, entirely supported by the parish, in 
part by the province or state, or by subscription. The committee ap- 
points a school inspector, who is usually the clergyman of the parish. In 
cities, the magistrates form the school committee, or school deputation, as 
it is there called, the curates still acting as local inspectors. 

Thus, there is a regular series of authorities, from the master of the 
school up to the minister, and every part of primary instruction is entirely 
within the control of an impulse from the central government, and takes 
its direction according to the will of the highest authorities. With such a 
system, under a despotic government, it is obvious that the provisions of 
any law may be successfully enforced. 

The cardinal provisions of the school system of Prussia, are : 

First, That all children between the ages of seven and fourteen years 
shall go regularly to school. This is enforced by the school committee, 
who are furnished with lists of the children who should attend, and of 
those actually in the schools under their charge, and who are required to 
enforce the penalties of the law. 

Second, That each parish shall, in general, have an elementary school. 
When the inhabitants are of different religious persuasions, each denom- 
ination has its school, and if not, provision is made for the religious in- 
struction of the children by their own pastors. The erection of the school- 
house, its furniture, the income of the master, and aid to poor scholars, are 
all provided for. The requisite sum comes, in part, from parochial funds, 
and in part from a tax upon householders. When the parish is poor, it is 
assisted by the circle, by the province, and even by the state. Besides 
these elementary schools, most of the towns in Prussia have one or more 
upper primary or burgher schools. 

Third, The education of teachers in seminaries, adapted to the grade 
of instruction to which they intend devoting themselves. Their exemp- 
tion during their term of study from active military service required of 
other citizens. A provision for their support during their terra of study. 
A preference given to them over schoolmasters not similarly educated. 
Their examination previous to receiving a certificate of capacity, which 
entitles them to become candidates for any vacant post in the province 
where they have been examined. Their subsequent exemption from ac- 
tive military service, and even from the annual drill of the militia, if they 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN PRUSSIA. gg 

can not, in the opinion of the school inspector, be spared from their duties. 
Provision for the removal of the incompetent or immoral. A provision 
for the support of decayed teachers. 

Fourth^ The authorities which regulate the schools, and render them 
a branch of the general government, and the teachers in fact, its officers. 
In a country like Prussia, this connection secures to the teacher the respect 
due to his station, and thus facilitates the discharge of his important 
duties. 

Under this system of organization and administration, and especially 
with these arrangements to secure the employment of only properly quali- 
fied teachers, the public schools of Prussia have been multiplied to an ex- 
tent, and have attained within the last quarter of a century a degree of 
excellence, which has attracted the attention of statesmen, and commanded 
the admiration of intelligent educators in every part of Christendom. In 
the provinces, where the improved system has gone into operation with 
the habits of the people in its favor, it has already reached every human 
being ; and in even the outer provinces, it is. as fast as time sweeps along 
new generations, replacing the adult population with a race of men and 
women who have been subjected to a course of school instruction far more 
thorough and comprehensive than has ever been attempted in any other 
country. As an evidence of the universality of the system it may be 
mentioned, that out of 122,897 men of the standing army, in 1846, only 
two soldiers were found who could not both read and write. But the 
system aims at much higher results — with nothing short of developing 
every faculty both of mind and body, of converting creatures of impulse, 
prejudice, and passion, into thinking and reasoning beings, and of giving 
them objects of pursuit, and habits of conduct, favorable to their own hap- 
piness and that of the community in which they live. The result which 
may be reasonably anticipated from this system — when the entire adult 
population have been subjected to its operation, and when the influences 
of the home and street, of the business and the recreations of society, all 
unite with those of the school — have not as yet been realized in any sec- 
tion of the kingdom. Every where the lessons of the school-room are 
weakened, and in a measure destroyed, by degrading national customs, 
and the inevitable results of a government which represses liberty of 
thought, speech, occupation, and political action. But the school, if left 
as good and thorough as it now is, must inevitably change the govern- 
ment, or the government must change the school. And even if the school 
should be made less thorough than it now is, no governmental interfer- 
ence can turn back the intelligence which has already gone out among 
the people. It would be easier to return the rain to the clouds, from 
which it has parted, and which has already mingled with the waters of 
every rising spring, or reached the roots of every growing plant. 

The following Table exhibits the state of the Public Schools of Prussia, 
according to the latest official returns published by the government. 



56 



PRIMARY EDUCATION IN PRUSSIA. 







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LEGAL PROVISION 

RESPECTING THE 

EDUCATION, IMPROVEMENT, AND SUPPORT OF TEACHERS IN PRUSSIA. 



The following are the provisions of the law of 1819 respecting Normal 
Schools and teachers. It is difficult to describe the well-qualified teacher 
in more appropriate language : 

" In order that a master may be enabled to fulfill the duties of his sta- 
tion, he ought to be religious, wise, and alive to the high importance of 
his profession. He ought thoroughly to understand the duties of his 
station, to have acquired the art of teaching and managing youth, to be 
firm in his fidelity to the state, conscientious in the discharge of his duties, 
friendly and prudent in his relations with the parents of his children, and 
with his fellow-citizens in general ; finally, he ought to inspire all around 
him Avith a lively interest in the progress of the school, and to render 
them favorably inclined to second his own wishes and endeavors." 

In order to insure the education of such schoolmasters, the following 
regulations are laid down : 

" Each department is required to have a number of young men well 
prepared for their duties, Avho may supply the yearly vacancies in the 
ranks of the schoolmasters of the department, and therefore each depart- 
ment shall be required to support a Normal School. These establish- 
ments shall be formed on the basis of the following regulations : 

1. No Normal School for teachers in the primary schools shall admit 
more than seventy pupil teachers. 

2. In every department where the numbers of Catholics and Protest- 
ants are about equal, there shall be, as often as circumstances will per- 
mit, a Normal School for the members of each sect. But where there is 
a very marked inequality in the numbers of the two sects, the masters of 
the least numerous sect shall be obtained from the Normal Schools be- 
longing to that sect in a neighboring department, or by smaller establish- 
ments in the same department annexed to an elementary primary school. 
Normal Schools for simultaneous education of two sects shall be permitted 
when the pupil teachers can obtain close at hand suitable religious in- 
struction, each in the doctrines of his own church. 

3. The Normal Schools shall be established whenever it is possible in 
small towns, so as to preserve the pupil teachers from the dissipations, 
temptations, and habits of life which are not suitable to their future pro- 
fession, without subjecting them to a monastic seclusion ; but the town 
ought not to be too small, in order that they may profit by the vicinity of 
several elementary and superior primary schools. 

6. No young man can be received into a Normal School who has not 
passed through a course of instruction in an elementary primary school ; 
nor can any young man be received, of the excellence of whose moral 
character there is the least ground of suspicion. The age of admission 
into the Normal Schools shall be from sixteen to eighteen years. 

7. As to the methods of instruction, directors of the Normal Schools 
shall rather seek to conduct the pupil teachers by their own experience 
to simple and clear principles, than to give them theories for their guid- 
ance ; and with this end in view, primary schools shall be joined to all the 



58 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN PRUSSIA. 

Normal Schools, where the pupil teachers may be practised in the art of 
teaching. 

8. In each Normal School the course of instruction shall last three 
years, of which the first shall be devoted to the continuation of the course 
of instruction which the pupils commenced in the primary schools ; the 
second to an instruction of a still higher character, and the third to prac- 
tice in the primary school attached to the establishment. For those who 
are sufficiently advanced when they enter not to require the first year's 
instruction, the course may be reduced to one of two years. 

10. In each Normal School particular funds, set apart for that purpose, 
shall be devoted to the support of young men of good character not able 
to pay for themselves, hut in such a ■manner as not to habituate them to 
too many comforts, and not to render them unfit for the worst paid situa- 
tions in the primary schools. 

11. Every pupil who receives such assistance from a Normal School, is 
obliged at the end of his educational course to accept the place which the 
provincial consistories assign him ; a prospect of advancement, however, 
must always be held out to him in case of perseverance and good conduct. 

12. The provincial consistories have the immediate surveillance of all . 
the Normal Schools in the different departments of their respective 
provinces ; and the provincial ecclesiastical authorities have the especial 
surveillance of the religious instruction of their respective sects." 

The following provisions, gathered from the law of 1819, and from the 
general regulations, have an important bearing on the social and pecuniary 
condition of the teacher. 

No young man is allowed to conduct a primary school until he has 
obtained a certificate of his capacity to fulfill the important duties of a 
schoolmaster. The examinations of the candidates for these certificates 
is conducted by commissions, composed of two laymen and two clergy- 
men, or two priests. The provincial consistories nominate the lay mem- 
bers, the ecclesiastical authorities of the respective provinces nominate 
the clerical members for the examination of the religious education of the 
Protestant candidates ; and the Roman Catholic bishop nominates the 
two priests who examine the Roman Catholic candidates. 

The members of these commissions are nominated tor three years, and 
they can afterward be continued in their office if advisable. 

The lay examiners and the clerical examiners join in granting the cer- 
tificates, but the religious and secular examinations are conducted sepa- 
rately. The certificates are signed also by the director of the Normal 
School in which the young man has been educated, and describe his 
moral character and his intellectual capability. 

These certificates are not valid until they have been ratified by the 
superior authorities, that is, by the provincial consistories; and in the case 
of the certificates granted to the Roman Catholics, the further ratification 
of the bishop is necessary. If the piovincial consistories and the bishops 
can not agree about the granting of any certificate, the matter is referred 
to the minister of public instruction, who decides between them. The 
provincial authorities can re-examine the candidates, if they think there is 
any reason to doubt what is specified on the certificate granted by the 
committee of examination, and can declare them incapable, and can re- 
quire the local authorities to proceed to another examination if they are 
not satisfied with the character of any of the candidates. 

The young women who are candidates for the situations of school- 
mistresses are obliged to submit to the same kind of examination before 
they can obtain the certificate enabling them to take the charge of a 
girls' school. 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN PRUSSIA. 50 

The election and nomination of masters for the communal schools, ia 
the duty of the local committees, on the presentation of the communal 
inspectors. 

The masters can not be installed and begin to receive their salaries, 
until their certificates have been ratified by the provincial authorities. 

" The provincial consistories are required to choose able and zealous 
clerical inspectors, and to engage them to form and direct great associa- 
tions between the masters of the town and rural schools, for the purpose 
of fostering among them a feeling of interest in their profession, of further- 
ing the further development of their education by regular reunions, by 
consultations, conversations, practical treatises, study of particular branches 
of instruction, and discussions on treatises read aloud in their public as- 
semblies." 

These teachers' conferences are very useful. They not only promote 
a spirit of generous emulation among the schoolmasters, and so stimulate 
them to further exertions, but they encourage the masters, by reminding 
them that they form part of" a great and honorable body. And nothing 
encourages man more than a feeling of association. Man alone is weak 
and timid ; but let him only feel that his feelings and aims are those of a 
number who regard him as their fellow, and he then is a giant in his 
aims and efforts. 

The provincial consistories have the power of sending the master of a 
primary school, who appears to be in need of further instruction, to a 
Normal School, for the time that may appear requisite to give him the 
necessary additional instruction ; during his absence his place is supplied 
by a young man from the Normal School, who receives a temporary cer- 
tificate. 

The expenses of the conferences and of the masters who frequent for a 
second time the Normal Schools, are generally defrayed by the provincial 
educational authorities. 

The schoolmasters are encouraged to continue their own education by 
hopes of preferment to better situations, or to superior schools ; but before 
they can attain this preferment, they must pass a second examination, 
conducted by the same authorities who conducted the former. 

If a schoolmaster is negligent or conducts himself improperly in his 
station, the inspector of the school first remonstrates with him, and if this 
fails to convince him, the inspector of the canton reproves him ; and if he 
still prove refractory, they report him to the provincial authorities, who 
have the power of fining him, or of removing him from the school. 

If he commits any flagrant crime, he is reported at once to the pro- 
vincial authorities, who remove him immediately, after having carefully 
verified the accusations brought against him by the inspectors. 

Everj'' school in a village or town must have a garden suitable to the 
nature of the country and habits of the people, for a kilchen-garden, nur- 
sery-orchard, or the raising of bees. This is provided as an additional 
resource for the teacher, as well as an available means of instruction of 
the scholars. 

Every school-house must not only embrace what we regard as essen- 
tial features in such structures, such as size, location, ventilation, warmth, 
seats and desks, &c., but apparatus for illustrating every study, and " a 
sufficient collection of books for the use of the master," as well as a resi- 
dence for him. 

Whenever a new fund, legacy, or donation, accrues to the schools of a 
province or commune, the same must be appropriated to the improvement 
of the school, or of the master's income, and not to the diminution of any 
tax or rate before collected. 

The practice of " boarding round," or the right of the teacher to a 
place at the table of every family in the commune or district in rotation 



60 , NORMAL SCHOOLS IN PRUSSIA. 

(called in German, Wandeltisch, movable table,) formerly prevailed in 
Prussia, but it was first arrested by an ordinance in 1811, directing that 
this " movable table" should not be reckoned in payment of the teacher's 
compensation, and should be given up at the option of the teacher. It ia 
now abandoned in every commune which makes any pretension to civili- 
zation. It never included any thing beyond an " itinerating table." The 
teacher always had a fixed residence provided, and usually under the 
same roof with his school. 

Scholars are encouraged to form among themselves a fund, by volun- 
tary contributions, for the assistance of their necessitous schoolfellows. 
The fund is managed by themselves under the direction of their teacher. 
This is done to cultivate good feeling in the school, and save the teacher 
from a constant tax for articles for such pupils. 

All school fees, all contributions or assessments in money, fuel. &c., 
must be collected by the regular school authorities, and not by the 
teacher. And no service can be required of the teacher in or about the 
school, and he can engage in no employment, which will lower his dignity, 
or weaken his influence. 

All public teachers are regarded as public functionaries, and are ex- 
empt from liability to military service in time of peace, and from all local 
and capitation taKes, or if taxed, an equivalent is allowed in an increase 
of salary. 

Whenever any division of land belonging to a parish, or town, is made, 
a sufficient quantity shall be allotted to the schoolmaster for a vegetable 
garden, and for the feed of a cow. Wherever the right of common exists, 
the teacher shall share in its benefits. 

Schoolmasters who become temporarily infirm, are entitled to an allow- 
ance from the school moneys provided for the support of their schools. And 
when permanently disabled, are entitled to an annual allowance from the 
income of funds provided in each province for this purpose, and for the 
support of the widows and children of teachers, who entitle themselves to 
such provision for their families, by a small annual contribution from their 
salaries. 

Teachers, who show themselves entitled to promotion to the direction 
of Normal Schools, are enabled to travel both in Prussia, and other 
countries, for the purpose of extending their knowledge of the organiza- 
tion, instruction and discipline of schools. 

A valuable ordinance passed in 1826, and renewed in 1846, requires 
the director of a seminary to travel about, once a year, and visit a certain 
part of the schools within his circuit. He makes himself acquainted with 
the state of the school, listens to the instruction given, takes part himself 
in the same, and gives to the teacher such hints for improvement as his 
observation may suggest. The results of his yearly visits he presents, in 
the form of a report, to the school authorities of the province. This occa- 
sional visitation is very useful in clearing up the dark corners of the land, 
correcting abuses, and giving an impulse, from time to time, to teachers, 
who might otherwise sink into apathy and neglect. To render the effi- 
cacy of the seminaries more complete, it is provided that at the end of 
three years after leaving the seminary, the young teachers shall return 
to pass a second examination. 

By an ordinance in 3826, it is provided : " To the end, that the benefi- 
cial influence of the seminary may extend itself to those teachers already 
established, who either require further instruction, or who in their own 
cultivation and skill in office do not advance, perhaps even recede ; it is 
required that such teachers be recalled into the seminary for a shorter or 
longer time, as may be needful for them, in order, either to pass through 
a whole methodical course, or to practice themselves in particular de- 
partments of instruction." 



CLASSIFICATION, LOCATION. AND NUMBER 



PUPILS OF TEACHERS' SEMINARIES IN PRUSSIA. 



Teachers' Seminaries in Prussia are divided into Public and Private. 
Public Seminaries are divided into those intended for teachers of Real 
Schools, Gymnasia, and Universities, and those intended for Primary 
Schools. Primary School Seminaries are again divided into superior or 
chief seminaries, (Haupt Seminaire,) and secondary, or small seminaries, 
(Neben Seminaire.) By the former (Haupt Seminaire) was originally 
understood such seminaries as were completely organized according to 
the requirements of the laws. Afterward they were distinguished by the 
fact, that a special commission of examination was appointed for them, to 
which commission the director and head teacher belonged. But by re- 
cent regulation, a commission for this purpose is appointed to the small, 
and even the private, as well as to the superior seminaries. They differ 
now only by the number of pupils, and in a few instances, the smaller 
seminaries require a shorter residence, and train teachers exclusively for 
coiintry schools. The seminaries are also divided into Boarding Schools, 
and Day Schools. The general practice is to provide board and lodging 
in the institution, as more favorable to the purposes of a seminary which 
is to educate the pupils, not only during ordinary school hours, and in 
methods of instruction, but at all times, and in every particular. Private 
seminaries are encouraged, because the annual graduates of the public 
institutions can not yet supply the annual vacancies in the schools created 
by death, withdrawal and dismission. 

In addition to the seminaries included in the following tables, there are 
five institutions for female teachers, viz., at Berlin. Kaiserswerth, Muns- 
ter, Paderborn, and Marienwerder, which are recognized, and to some 
extent aided, by the government. 

The whole number of public seminaries, and private seminaries aided 
by the government, not including seminaries for female teachers, in 1848, 
was 46. These were distributed among the different provinces, as follows : 



Population. 



No. of 
PupilB. 



Prussia, . . 
Posen, . . , 
Brandenburg 
Pomerania, . 
Silesia, 
Saxony, 
Westphalia, , 
Rhineland, 



2,499,400 
1,364.000 
2,020,000 
1,666,000 
2,065,800 
1,742,500 
1,445,700 
2,763,000 



447 
336 
324 
177 
585 
346 
231 
267 



02 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN PRUSSIA. 

TaBLK n. — LOCATION AND NUMBER OF PUPILS OF NORMAL SCHOOLS, IN 1846. 



Province. 


KegcBcy District. 


Place where located. 


s 

'p. 


1 




■2 

-a 

1 

£ 


1 


1 

■p. 








1 




1^ 


J3 

Q 


i 




Prussia, 


Konigsberg, 


Konigsberg, 
Braunsberg, 
Eylau, 


28 
53 
70 


4 
5 


P. 

c. 


1809 
1810 


30 
20 


10 




Gumbinnen, 


Angerberg, 
Karalene, 


38 
70 


3 



p. 
p. 


1829 
1811 


25 






Danzig, 

Marienwerder, 


iVIarienburg, 
Graudenz, 


53 

96 


6 


C. &P. 
C. &P. 


1814 
1816 




46 
59 


Posen, 


Posen, 


Posen, 
Paradies, 


100 

78 


10 


c. 


1804 
1838 


18 


70 




Bromberg, 


Bromberg, 
Trzemessno, 


30 
15 


4 

2 


p. 
p. 


1819 
1829 




30 


Brandenburg, 


Potsdam, 


Berlin, 
Potsdam, 


34 

98 


3 
1 


p. 
p. 


1830 

1748 








Frankfort, 


Neuzelle, 
Alt-Dobern, , 


120 
104 


10 

8 


p. 
p. 


1817 


10 
22 


88 
24 


Pomerania, 


Stettin, 


Stettin, 

Kammin, 

Pyritz, 


50 

18 
15 


4 

2 
2 


p. 

c. 
p. 


1735 

1840 

1827 




50 




Coslin, 
Stralsund, 


Coslin, 
Stralsund, 


60 
31 


5 


p. 


1806 




60 


Silesia, 


Breslau, 


Breslau, 


195 




c. 


1765 




58 




Oppeln,' 
Liegnitz, 


Ober-Glogau, 
Buntzlau, 


150 
135 


10 

8 


c. 
p. 


1815 
1816 






Saxony, 


Magdeburg, 


Magdeburg, 
Halberstadt, 
Gardelegen, 


65 
49 

27 


5 
4 


p. 
p. 


1790 

1778 
1821 




24 
12 




Merseburg, 


Eisleben, 

Weissenfels, 

Zeitz, 


20 

68 
8 


3 
4 


c. 
p. 


1836 
1794 




23 




Erfurt, 


Erfurt, 

Miihlhausen, 

Heiligenstadt, 


103 

6 

32 




C. &P. 


1820 






Westphalia, 


Munster, 


Langenhorst, 


36 


3 


p. 


1830 








Minden, 


Petershagen, 
Biiren, 


34 

80 


3 
5 


p. 
c. 


1831 
1825 






Rhine, 


Amsberg, 
Cologne, 


Soest, 
Briihl, 


42 
100 


4 

7 


p. 
c. 


1818 
1823 




36 

87 




Dusseldort, 


Kempen, 
Meurs, 


101 
96 


7 
8 


p. 
p. 


1840 
1820 




30 




Coblentz, 

Trier, 

Aix-la-Chapelle, 


Neuwied, 
Treves, 


36 


4 


p. 
c. 


1816 




30 



Prior to 1846 there were two seminaries at Breslau; in that year the Protes- 
tant seminary, with 130 pupils, was closed, and the pupils were provided for 
in two new institutions, one at Lowen, and the other at Heinau. The Small 
Seminary at Zeitz, was abolished in 1846, and those at Stettin, Pyritz and Kam- 
min, were consolidated into a Chief Seminary at Stettin, The Seminary at 
Potsdam, is to be transferred (in 1849) to Kopnick, in the neighborhood of 
Berlin. 



REGULATIONS 

OF THE NORMAL SCHOOLS OF LASTADIE AND PYRITZ, 

IN PRU6SIA. 



The following Regulations of two of the best small (nebeusen) Normal 
Schools are taken from M. Cousin's " Report on the State of Public Instruc- 
tion in some of the States of Germany, and especially of Prussia^ The author 
introduces them with some remarks on this class of Normal Schools in 
Prussia. It is no longer true that all of the smaller seminaries are private 
establishments. 

The small Normal Schools are almost all private establishments, but the 
government aids and watches over them, without subjecting them to the 
same publicity it requires of its great schools. 

The small Normal Schools differ, generally, from the large, not only in 
the number of pupils, which is much smaller, but above all as being nurser- 
ies of village schoolmasters for the very poorest parishes. This is their 
proper object ; this it is which gives them so peculiar a character, so pro- 
found a utility. The great schools, it is true, furnish masters for the coun- 
try as well as for the towns ; and their pupils, — those at least who receive 
the stipendAa, or exhibitions, — -are for many years at the disposal of the gov- 
ernment, which sends them where it likes ; a right which, from the well- 
known rigor of the Prussian government in making all public servants work, 
we may be sure it exercises. But in every country there are parishes so 
poor, that one would hesitate to send a schoolmaster of any eminence to 
live in them ; and yet it is precisely these miserable villages which stand in 
the greatest need of instruction to improve their condition. This need, 
then, the small Normal Schools are destined to supply. They labor for 
these poor and backward villages. To this their whole organization, their 
studies, their discipline, are to be directed. Unquestionably, the great Nor- 
mal Schools of Prussia are entitled to the highest respect; but never can 
there be veneration enough for these humble laborers in the field of public 
instruction, who, as I have said, seek obscurity rather than fame ; who de- 
vote themselves to the service of poverty with as much zeal as others to the 
pursuit of riches, since they toil for the poor alone ; and who impose re- 
straints on every personal desire and feeling, while others are excited by all 
the stimulants of competition. They cost scarcely any thing, and they do 
infinite good. Nothing is easier to establish, — but on one condition, that we 
find directors and pupils capable of the most disinterested, and, what is more, 
the most obscure devotion to the cause. Such devotion, however, can be 
inspired and kept alive by religion alone. Those who can consent to live 
for the service of men who neither know nor can appreciate them, must keep 
their eyes steadfastly fixed on Heaven : that witness is necessary to those 
who have no other. And, accordingly, we find that the authors and direct- 
ors of these small schools are almost all ministers of religion, inspired by 
the spirit of Christian love, or men of singular virtue, fervent in the cause 
of popular education. In these humble institutions, every thing breathes 
Christian charity, ardor for the good of the people, and poverty. I shall lay 
before you a description of two ;— one hidden in a suburb of Stettin, and 
the other in the village of Pyritz in Pomerania. 

Stettin has a large Normal School, instituted for the training of masters 



g4 SMALL NORMAL SCHOOLS IN PRUSSIA. 

for the burgher schools. An excellent man, Mr. Bernhardt, school-councilor 
(Schulrath) in the council of the department, was the more powerfully struck 
by the necessity of providing for the wants of the country schools. He 
founded a small Normal School for this sole purpose, and placed it not in 
the town, but in a suburb called Lastadie; he laid down regulations for its 
government, which I annex nearly entire. 

Small Primary Normal School of Lastadie, near Stettin. 

1. This school is specially designed for poor young men who intend to become 
country schoolmasters, and who may, in case of need, gain a part of their subsist- 
ence by the labor of their hands. 

2. Nothing is taught here but those things necessary for small and poor country 
parishes, which require schoolmasters who are Christians and useful men, and can 
afford them but a very slender recompense for their toils. 

3. This school is intended to be a Christian school, founded in the spirit of the 
gospel. It aspires only to resemble a village household of the simplest kind, and 
to unite all its members into one family. To this end, all the pupils inhabit the 
same house, and eat at the same table with the masters. 

4. The young men who will be admitted in preference, are such as are born 
and bred in the country ; who know the elements of what ought to be taught in 
a good country school ; wlio have a sound, straightforward understanding, and 
a kindly, cheerful temper. If, withal, they know any handcraft, or understand 
gardening, they will find opportunities for practice and improvement in it in odd 
hours. 

5. The school of Lastadie neither can nor will enter into any competition with 
the great Normal Schools completely organized ; on the contrary, it wiU strive 
always to keep itself within the narrow limits assigned to it. 

G. The utmost simplicity ought to prevail in all the habits of the school, and, 
if possible, manual labor sliould be combined with those studies which are the 
main object, and which ought to occupy the greater portion of the time. 

7. The course of instruction is designed to teach young people to reflect, and 
by exercising them in reading, writing, arithmetic, and singing, to put it in their 
power to instruct themselves, and to form their own minds. For the humblest 
peasant ought to be taught to think ; but to enlighten him, to make him a ra- 
tional and intelligent being, does not mean to make him learned. " God willeth 
that all men be enlightened, and that tliey come to the knowledge of the truth." 

8. The instruction ought to have a direct connection with the vocation of the 
students, and to include only the most essential part of the instruction given in 
the great Normal Schools. 

9. The objects of instruction are — religion, the German language, reading, 
writing, arithmetic, and singing. To these are joined the first elements of geom- 
etry, easy lessons in natural history, narratives di-awn from national history (par- 
ticularly that of Pomerania), and geographical descriptions. The principal object, 
and the foundation of all education, is religion, as learned from history and the 
Bible. The principal books are the Bible, the psalter, and the catechism. The 
school of Lastadie will also strive to excite and cherish in its pupils a love of 
nature, and to that end will cultivate a taste for gardening and planting. 

10. In treating of all these subjects, the pupils must be trained to speak in 
pure and accurate language ; for after the knowledge of religion and of nature, 
there is nothing of which the children of peasants stand so much in need, as to 
learn to express what they know with simplicity, truth, and accuracy. 

11. The students know enough, when they speak, read, and write well; when 
they can produce a gooil composition in the German tongue ; when they can cal- 
culate with facility and with reflection, and when they sing well ; they know 
enough when they are thoroughly versed in the Bible, when they possess the 
most essential notions of the system of that universe which they have constantly 
before their eyes, of that nature in the midst of which they live : they have at- 
tained much, when they are Christian, rational, and virtuous men. 

12. The period of study is fixed at two years. The first year the pupils learn 
what they are hereafter to teach to others ; besides which, they assist at the les- 
sons the masters give to the children of the school annexed to tliis small Normal 



NORMAL SCHOOL OF LASTADIE. gg 

School. In the second year the future teacher appears more distinctly, and from 
that time every thing is more and more applied to practice. They continue the 
whole year to practice teaching, and at the end they receive a set of rules, short 
and easy to understand, for the management of a school of poor country children. 

13. To the school of Lastadie is joined a school of poor children, in which the 
young men have an opportunity of going over what they have learned, by teach- 
ing it to others, and of exercising themselves in tuition according to a fixed plan. 
Tliis school consists of a single class, in order that the students may see how a 
good school for poor children should be composed and conducted, and how all the 
childreii may be kept employed at once. 

14. The number of pupils is fixed at twelve. The pecuniary assistance they 
receive will depend on circumstances. The instruction is gratuitous. Six pupils 
inhabit each room. The master lives on the same floor. They take their simple 
but wholesome meals together. Servants are not Avanted. The pupils do the 
work of the house. 

15. The daily lessons begin and end with prayers and psalmody. It rests with 
the master to fix the hours of devotion (founded cliiefly on the Bible and the book 
of Psalms), as well as tlieir number. So long as the true spirit of Christianity — 
faith quickened by cJiarity — shall pervade tlie establishment, and fill the hearts 
of masters and of pupils, the scliool will be Christian, and will form Christian 
teachers ; and this spirit of faith and of charity Vv^ill be productive of blessings to 
the poor and to the mass of the nation. 

16. It will not, therefore, be necessary to lay down minute regulations; but 
practical moral training must be combined as much as possible with instruction. 
'■ The letter killeth, the spirit quickeneth." But what Avill it not require to im- 
bue the whole establishment with the true spirit of Christianity, so that masters 
and pupils may devote themselves with then- whole hearts, and for the love of 
God, to the children of the poor ? 

17. Whoever wishes to be admitted into this establishment must not be un- 
der eigliteen nor above twenty years of age. He must bring the certifiea.tes of 
his pastor, of the authorities of his parish, and of the physician of the circle, as 
to his previous conduct and the state of his health. He must, moreover, have 
such preliminary knowledge as is to be acquired in a well-conducted countiy school, 
on Biblical history, reading, writing, arithmetic, and singing. Those who join to 
these acquirements the principles of piano-forte or violin playing, will be pre- 
ferred. The candidates for admission give notice to the director, and are exam- 
med by the members of the departmental authorities who have the care of the 
people's schools. 

18. There is no public examination. The examination on ouitting is likewise 
conducted by the school-councilors of the department, and the certificates of 
capacity are founded on tliis examination, according to the gradations 1, 2, 3, and 
are delivered by the departmental authorities. 

19. As to the placing of the pupils, it is desirable that they should work some 
years as assistant masters, in order that they may gradually acquire the neces- 
sary experience and confidence, and may become well acquainted with children, 
iind with tlie inhabitants of villages. Under this supposition, the age of admis- 
sion might bo conveniently fixed at sixteen; and this arrangement would be a 
great rehef to aged schoolmasters who are become burdensome to themselves 
and to tiieir parishes. 

20. Partidular attention is paid to singing and to horticulture ; as means of 
ennobling and animating the public worship of God, and the general course of a 
country life ; of providing the pupils with an agreeable recreation, and, at the 
same time, a useful occupation ; and, further, of combating the grossness of mind 
and the obstinate prejudices to which uneducated husbandmen are prone. 

21. All the students attend divine service in the church of Lastadie on Sun- 
days. 

22. The vacations must not exceed four weeks for the whole year : they are, 
ut Easter, in the autumn, and at Christmas. 

23. The establishment lias no other revenues than what it owes to the bounty 
of the minister of public instruction. These funds are employed, — 

1. In maintaining the poorest students. 

2. In indemnifying the assistant masters of singing and gardening. 

5 



Qg SMALL-NORMAL SCHOOLS IN PRUSSIA. 

3. In paying for the school tuition. 

4. In paying the expenses of lodging the students. 

6. In lighting and warming the school-room and the two lodging-rooms. 

6. In extraordinary expenses. 

The expense of the meals taken at noon and evening, in common, is also chief- 
ly defrayed from these grants ; the students, however, contribute a little from 
their own means. 

The school of Lastadie pays the head master from its own resources. 

May this establishment (concludes Mr. Bernhardt), which owes its existence to 
such fervent charity, not be deprived of that blessing, without which it can do 
aothing ! 

Assuredly there is not a virtuous heart which does not unite its prayers 
with those of the worthy and benevolent councilor. 

The second small Normal School of this description was founded in 1824, 
in honor of Otto, bishop of Bamberg, who introduced Christianity into Pora- 
erania, having baptized 4000 Pomeranians in 1124, near the fountain of Py- 
ritz. When the minister of public instruction granted the license for its 
establislnnent, he made it a condition that the students should be instructed 
in agriculture, not merely as a recreation, but as essential to their destina- 
tion; that they should be bound to study gardening, the cultivation of fruit- 
trees, and of silk-worms. The special superintendence of this house is 
intrusted to the pastor of the place. The regulations are as follows : — they 
resemble those of Lastadie in many respects, but go into great detail, and 
are perhaps still more austere as to discipline. 

Hides of the mnall Normal School of Pyritz, in Pomerania. 
I. 

1. Tlie purpose of this endowment is to give to every pupil the training and 
instruction suitable for a good and useful country schoolmaster : this, however, 
can only be done by the union of Christian piety with a fundamental knowledge 
of his vocation, and with good conduct in the household and in the school. 

2. Piety is known — 
By purity of mamiers ; 

By sincerity in word and deed; 

By love of God and of his word ; 

By love of our neighbor ; 

By willing obedience to superiors and masters ; 

By brotherly harmony among the pupils ; 

By active participation in the pious exercises of the house, and of public wor- 
ship ; 

By respect for the king, our sovereign, by unshaken fidelity to our country, by 
uprightness of heart and of conduct. 

3. A thorough knowledge of the duties of a teacher are acquired — 
By long study of the principles and elements ; 

By learning what is necessary and really useful in that vocation ; 
By habits of reflection and of voluntary labor; 
By constant application to lessons ; 
By incessant repetition and practice ; 

By regular industry and well-ordered activity ; according to this command- 
ment, " Pray and work." 

4. Good conduct in the house and the school requires — 
A good distribution and employment of time ; 

Inflexible order, even in what appears petty and insignificant ; 

Silence in hours of study and work ; 

Quietness in the general demeanor ; 

Care and punctuality in the completion of all works commanded ; 

Decent manners toward every pei-son and in every place : decorum at meala ; 

Respect for the property of the school, and for all property of others ; 

The utmost caution with regard to fire and light ; 



NORMAL SCHOOL OF PYRITZ. Q>j 

Cleanliness of person and of clothing ; 

Simplicity in dress, and in the manner of living ; according to the golden rule, 
" Every thing in its time and place. Let things have their course. Provide 
things honest in the sight of all men." — Rom. xii. 16, 17.* 

II. 

1. All the pupils inhabit one house and one room; for they must live in union, 
and form one family of brotliers, loving one another. 

2. Tlie ■whole order of the house rests on the master of the school ; he lives in 
tlie midst of the pupils ; he has the immediate superintendence of them, of their 
conduct, and of their labors. He ought to be to those under his care what a 
father of a Christian family is in his household. 

He is responsible for the accounts of the establishment, the registers, the re- 
sult of tlie quarterly examinations, and for the formation of the necessary lists. 
He has the special care of the provisions, the rooms, the library, the furniture. 
He is responsible to the school-administration for good order in every department. 

.^. The oldest and most intelligent of the students assists the master. He is 
called the master's assistant. He must take care — 

That every one in the room under his care rises and goes to bed at the ap- 
pointed moment ; 

Tliat nobody, -without the master's permission, leave the house, smoke, or carry 
candles into the passages or the loft ; 

That no one Avantonly injure the windo-ws, doors, or furniture, or tlu'ow any 
thing out of the windows ; 

That the utmost cleanliness be observed in the sitting-room, the passage, and 
the sleeping-room ; 

That all clothes, linen, books, &c., be in their places ; 

Tliat no noise be made in going up and down stairs, or in going to the chil- 
dren's school. 

It is his especial business to help his companions in the prepar.ation of their 
lessons, to liear them repeat, to prepare the exercises for the master, and to as- 
sist him as far as he can in all his business. He ought to be to his fellow-students 
what a good elder brother is to his younger brothers and sisters. He is chosen, 
on the master's recommendation, by the school-committee. 

4. The humbler sort of liousehold work, such as cleaning and putting in order 
the rooms, dusting the furniture, fetching water, cleaving wood, &c., is done by 
the pupils, who serve a week in rotation. The time of service is prolonged by 
order of the master, in case of negligence. 

5. The order of the day is as follows : — 

In winter at five, in summer at half past four in the morning, at a given signal, 
all the pupils must I'ise, make their beds, and dress. 

Half an hour after rising, tliat is, at half past five in winter, and five in summer, 
all the pupils must be assembled in the school-room. The assistant first pro- 
nounces the morning benediction, and each pupil then occupies himself in silence 
till six. If any repetitions stand over from the preceding day, they must be 
heard now. After this, breakfast. 

In winter, as well as in summer, the lessons begin at six o'clock, and last till a 
quarter before eight. Then the students go with their master to the children's 
school, attached to the Normal Scliool, wliere they remain till ten, eithei' listen- 
ing, or assisting in teaching some small classes ; or they may be employed in their 
own studies at home. 

To these employments succeeds an hour of recreation, and then an hour's les- 
son in the estabUshment. 

At noon, the students assemble in the master's room, where they find a frugal 
but wholesome meal, consisting of vegetables, meat, and fish, at the rate of two 
thalers (six shillings) a month. 

The time which remains, till one o'clock, may be passed in music, gardening, 
and walking. 

• I do not happen to have the French version of the Biblo. The texts as qaofed by M. Cousin 
do not agree with those in our verision. Ver. 1 1, is rendered by Luther, Schickel eucli in die Zeit, 
Adapt yourselves to the time ; which is ilot giveu iu oar versioa. The next clause above, I find 
aeither in his version nor in our.'*. 



Qg SMALL NORMAL SCHOOLS IN PRUSSIA. 

In the afternoon, from one till three, while the master is teaching in the to-wn 
school, the pupils accompany him, as in the morning. From three till five, lessons. 

The succeeding hours, from five till seven, are, according to the seasons, em- 
ployed in bodily exercises, or in the school-room in quiet occupations. At seven 
they assemble at a simple cold supper. 

From seven to eight they practice singing and the violin ; then repetitions or 
silent study till ten, when all go to bed. 

Two afternoons of each week are free, and are usually spent in long walks. 
The time from fom* to six, or from five to seven, is devoted to the practice of 
music. 

On Sundays or holidays all the pupils must attend divine service in the church 
of the town, and assist in the choir. The remainder of these days may be passed 
by every one as he pleases : in the course of the morning, however, the students 
must write down the heads of the sermon (the text, the main subject, the distri- 
bution), and in the evening nmst give an account of the manner in which they 
have spent the day. 

Every evening, as well as on the mornings of Sundays and holidays, a portion 
of time is spent in meditation in common. 

A few Sundays after the setting in of winter, and after the festival of St. John 
(May 6th), the students partake of the Lord's Supper, in company with their 
masters. < 

Every student, from the time of his admission, must solemnly engage (in token 
of which he gives his hand to the master and signs his name) to follow the rules 
of the house, which may be summed up in these tliree principal maxims : — 

1. Order in behavior and in work, combined with the utmost simplicity in all 
things ; to the end tliat the students wlio belong to the poorer classes, and whose 
destiny it is to bs teachers of the poor, may willingly continue in that condition, 
and may not learn to know wants and wishes which they Avill not, and ought not 
to have the power of satisfying. For this reason, they must be their own servants. 

2. As to the course of instruction, the repetitions raust always be heard by the 
forwardest pupils. The pupils must be made, as much as possible, to teach each 
other what they have learned of the master, in order that they may perfect them- 
selves in the art of teaching. 

3. Piety and the fear of God should be the soul of their little community, but 
a true Christian piety, a fear of God according to knowledge and light, so that 
the pupils may do all to the glory of God, and may lead a simple, humble, and 
serene life, resigned and contented in labor and travail, according to the exhorta- 
tion of the Apostle : 

" Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one 
accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory ; but in 
lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." — Philip, ii. 2, 3. 

" And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy !" 
— Galat. vi. 16. 

I abstain from all comment on these two sets of regulations, which seem 
to have been dictated by the spirit of St. Vincent de Paule. The greater 
number of the small Normal Schools of Prussia are founded and governed 
in the same spirit. All rest on the sacred basis of Christianity. But be- 
neath their simple lowly exterior we trace a taste for instruction, a feeling 
for nature, a love of music, which take away every vestige of coarseness, and 
give these modest institutions a character of liberality. Undoubtedly all this 
is the offspring of the national manners, and of the genius of Germany ; 
yet Christian charity might transplant a good deal of it into our France ; 
and I should esteem myself happy, if the regulations of the little schools 
of Lastadie and of Pyritz were to fall into the hands of some worthy eccle- 
siastic, some good curate or village pastor, who would undertake such an 
apostolic mission as this. 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL 

AT POTSDAM. 



The following account of one of the best primary Normal Schools of 
Prussia is abridged from the report of M. Stintz, the director of the 
establishment. 

1. DIRECTION AND INSPECTION. 

The NorfTial School and its annexed school are placed under a director 
or principal, subordinate to the royal school board of the province of Bran- 
denburg, at BeHin. and to the minister of public instruction and ecclesias- 
tical and medical aftairs. 

The last named authority lays down the principles to be followed in 
this scliool, as in all other public schools ; exacts an account of all impor- 
tant matters, such as the examination of the masters, and an}^ change in 
the fundamental plan of the studies ; and receives every year, through 
the medium of the royal school board, a detailed report, prepared by the 
director of the school. 

The school board is charged with the special inspection of the Normal 
School : it must watch its progress, and from time to time send commis- 
sioners to make inquiries on the spot. It examines also and approves the 
plan of studies presented every half year, and decides on all questions 
submitted to the consistory. 

The director should superintend the whole establishment, observe and 
direct the master and servants, make reports to the superior authorities, 
carry on the correspondence, &c. 

2. BUILDING. 

The Normal School, situated near the canal and the Berlin gate, is a 
large edifice two stories high, with a frontage of 127 feet, and considera- 
ble back buildings, which, joined to the main building, form a square 
within which is a tolerably spacious court. The whole comprehends: 

1. A family residence for the director or principal, and another for a 
master ; 

2. Three apartments for three unmarried masters 

3. An apartment for the steward and his servants, and sufficient con- 
venience for household business and stowage ; 

4. A dining-room for the pupils, which serves also for the writing and 
drawing class ; 

5. An organ-room; in which the music lessons are given, the examina- 
tions take place, and the morning and evening prayers are said ; 

6. Two rooms for the scientific instruction of the pupils; 

7. Four rooms for the classes of the annexed school ; 

8. Five rooms of difierent sizes, and two dormitories for the pupils; 

9. Two infirmaries ; 

10. A wash-house ; 

11. Two cabinets of natural history; 
13. Granaries, cellars, wood-houses, &c. 

3. REVENUES. 

The annual income of this establishment amounts to S6000, which is 



-^ PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. 

derived from the state fund and the tuition of the pupils, both of the Nor- 
mal School, and the annexed primary model school. 

4. INVENTORY. 

The establishment contains the following articles : 

1. Things required in the economy of the house, kitchen utensils, 
tables, forms, &c. ; 

2. Sufficient and suitable furniture, consisting of chests of drawers, 
tables, forms, chairs and boxes, for the class of the Normal School, and 
the school for practice, and for the masters' rooms, &c. There is also, for 
the poorer pupils, a certain number of bedsteads with bedding ; 

3. A considerable library for the masters and pupils, as well as a good 
collection of maps and globes for the teaching of geograpliy ; 

4. A tolerably complete collection of philosophical instruments; 

5. A collection of minerals, presented to the estabHshment by Council- 
lor Von Turck ; 

6. A collection of stuffed birds, and other objects in natural history; 

7. The instruments most required in mathematical instruction; 

8. Complete drawing apparatus; 

9. A very considerable collection of music; 

10. A very good organ, a piano forte, seven harpsichords, and many 
wind and string instruments. 

5. DOMESTIC ECONOMY AND MAINTENANCE OF THE PUPILS. 

To support about eighty pupils, and to preserve cleanliness in the 
house, a steward has been appointed, whose duties are specified in a con- 
tract renewable every year. 

The food of the pupils is good and wholesome, which is proved by the 
state of their health. Some parents think it needful to send their chil- 
dren eatables, or money to purchase them. They are wrong, for the 
children have no such want; on the contrary, so far from being advan- 
tageous, these presents only serve to take away their appetite at meals, 
and to make them dainty and gluttonous. The orphans, and those whose 
parents are too poor to send them any thing, are exactly those who are 
the strongest and healthiest. 

The director is almost always present at meals, to be sure of the good- 
ness of the food, and to prevent any irregularity in the serving up. 

Sick pupils are sent to the infirmary, and are attended by tlie physician 
or surgeon of the establisJinient. 

6. MASTERS. 

There are six masters attached to this establishment in which they 
live, besides the director, who instructs in religion, in the principles of edu- 
cation, of training, of the art of teaching, and of the metliods of study. 

7. NUMBER OF PUPILS. 

The number of pupils is fixed by the regulation at from seventy to 
eighty, and is now seventy-eight, of whom seventy-two live in the estab- 
lishment; the other six have obtained a license to remain with their 
parents in order to lessen the expense of their maintenance. 

This number is determined not only by the building, but also by the 
wants of the province. Brandenburg contains about 1500 masterships of 
primary schools, in town and country. Supposing that out of a hundred 
places, two become vacant every year, there will be at least thirty mas- 
ters required for this province ; but these places for the most part pay so 
badly, that they are compelled to be content with but moderately qualified 
masters, who, perhaps, have not been educated at a Normal School, and 
who sometimes follow some trade or handicraft. If, then, the Normal 
School contains seventy-eight pupils who form three classes, one of which 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. 71 

quits annually, it will furnish each year twenty-six candidates, which 
about meets tlie wants of I'he country. 

8. WHAT IS REQUIRED OF APPLICANTS FOR ADMISSION. 

Once a year, at Michaelmas, twenty-six pupils are admitted. Of these 
are required — 

1. Good health and freedom from all bodily infirmity. (Obstacles to 
admission would be, exceeding smallness of stature, short-sightedness, or 
a delicate chest ;) 

2. The age of seventeen complete ; 

3. The evangelical religion ; 

4. A moral and religious spirit, and a conduct hitherto blameless; 

5. A good disposition and talents, among which are a good voice and a 
musical ear ; 

6. To be prepared for the studies of the Normal School by the culture 
of the heart and mind; to have received a good religious education 
(which shall include a knowledge of the Bible and biblical history;) to be 
able to read ; to know the grammar of the German language, of compo- 
sition, arithmetic, the principles of singing, the piano forte and violin. 

A written request for admission must be sent to the director, by June at 
the latest, accompanied wila — 

1. A certificate of birth and baptism ; 

2. A school certificate, and one of good conduct ; 

3. A police certificate, stating the condition of the young man or his 
father, or else a written declaration from the father or guardian, staling 
the time within which he can and will pay the annual sum fixed by law ; 
i.e. 48 thaler (6^. 165.) 

The director enters the petitioners on a list, and in the month of June 
or July invites them, by letter, to present themselves at the examination 
which takes place in July or August. 

The examination is conducted partly in writing, and Tpartly viva voce. 

As a means of ascertaining the acquirements of the candidates, and of 
judging of their memory, their style, and their moral dispositions, an an- 
ecdote or parable is related in a clear and detailed manner, summing up 
and repealing the principal points, ai\er which they produce it in writing, 
with observations and reflections. 

The oral examination usually includes only rehgion, reading, grammar, 
logical exercises, and arithmetic. 

They are also examined in singing, the piano forte and the violin. 

After the examination, the talents and merits of the respective candid- 
ates are conscientiously weighed and compared, in a conference of the 
masters. The choice being made, it is submitted to the sanction of the 
royal school board, with a detailed report of the result of the examination. 

At the end of some weeks the candidates are informed of the decision ; 
their admission is announced, or the reasons which prevent it stated ; with 
either advice to give up their project entirely, or suggestions relative to 
their further preparation. 

The admitted candidate is bound to bring, besides his clothes and 
books, among Avhich must be the Bible and the prayer-book used in the 
establishment, half a dozen shirts, six pair of stockings, a knife and fork, 
and, generally, a bedstead with all requisite bedding. 

He is also bound to sign, on his entrance, the following engagement lo 
the director, with the consent of his father or guardian. 

COPY OF THE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE DIRECTOR TO BE SIGNED BY THE 
PUPIL ON HIS ENTRANCE. 

"I, the undersigned, N of N , by these presents, bind my- 
self, conformably with the ordinance of the royal minister of public in- 



72 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. 



struction, and ecclesiastical and medical affairs, dated February 28th, 
1825, with the consent of my father (or guardian) who signs this with 

me, to place myself during three years after my 

leaving the Normal School, at the disposal of the king's government j 
and consequently not to subscribe any thing contrary to this engagement; 
or, in such case, to refund to the Normal School the expenses incurred by 
the state for my instruction, namely : 

' 1. Ten thaler for each half year passed in the Normal School, and for 
the instruction received in this period of time ; 

' 2. The whole amount of the grants and exhibitions I may have re- 
ceived; 

• Potsdam, the &c." 

The applicant rejected, but not advised to choose another course, is 
summoned to a fresh examination the following year. 

The number of applicants having been for some time past very great, 
the author of this report thinks it his duty to warn parents, (especially 
fchoolmaslers.) whose children do not evince talent and have not a deci- 
ded taste for teaciiing, not to suffer them to lose the precious time which 
they might employ with much more success in some other career. 

I'his respects chiefly the poor youths who can have no claim to the ex- 
hibitions, unless they give proofs of an extraordinary capacity, from which 
the state and society may derive a real advantage. 

The Normal School is by no means designed for those v/ho are unfit for 
any business, and Ihinlc. if they can read and write, they are capable of 
becoming schoolmasters. This notion is so deeply rooted, that you hear 
fathers declare with all the simplicity in the world — "My son is too deli- 
cate to learn a business," or " I don't knov^r what to make of my son, but I 
think of getting him into the Normal School." We reply to such, that 
the pupils of the Normal School must, on the contrary, be sound both in 
body and mind, and able to brave the toils and troubles of a career as 
laborious as it is honorable. 

Much neglect unfortunately still exists on a subject which is of the 
highest importance,— the methodical preparation of these young men for 
the calling it is desired they should embrace. 

A iidse direction is often given to their preliminary studies. A yoimg 
man is believed to be well prepared for the Normal School, if he have 
passed the limits of elementary instruction, and if he have acquired a 
greater mass of knowledge than other pupils. It frequently happens, 
however, that candidates who come strongly recommended from school, 
pass the examination without credit, or are even rejected. 

The most immediate and the most important aim of all instruction, is 
to train up and complete the Man : to ennoble his heart and character; 
to awaken the energies of his soul, and to render him not only disposed, 
but able, to fulfil his duties. In this view alone can knowledge and 
talents profit a man; other Vv'ise, instruction, working upon sterile memory 
and talents purely mechanical, can be of no high utility. In order that 
the teacher, and particularly the master of the primary school, may make 
his pupils virtuous and enlightened men. it is necessary he should be so 
himself Thus, that the education of a Normal School, essentially practi- 
cal, may completely succeed, the young candidate must possess nobleness 
and purity of character in the highest possible degree, the love of the true 
and the beautiful, an active and penetrating mind, the utmost precision 
and clearness in narration and style. 

Such above all things are the qualities we require of young men. If 
they have reached this state of moral and intellectual advancement by 
the study of history, geography, mathematics, &c., and if they have ac- 
quired additional knowledge on these various branches, we can not but 
give them applause ; but, we frankly repeat, we dispense with all these 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. 173 

acquirements, provided they possess that formal instruction of which we 
have just spoken, since it is very easy for them to obtain in the Normal 
School that material instruction in whicli they are deficient. 

It is nevertheless necessary to have some preliminary notions, seeing 
that the courses at the Normal School are often a continuation of foregone 
studies, and that certain branches could not be there treated in their whole 
extent, if they were wholly unknown to the young men when they enter- 
ed. We have already mentioned the branches they should be most par- 
ticularly prepared in ; but this subject being of the greatest interest, we 
shall conclude this chapter with some suggestions on the plan to be fol- 
lowed. 

I. Religion. To awaken and fortify the religious spirit and the moral 
sentiments. For this purpose the histories and parables of the Bible are 
very useful. Frequent reading and accurate explanation of the Bible are 
necessary. The pupils should be able to explain the articles of faith, and 
the most important duties, as laid down in the catechism. Many sen- 
tences, whole chapters and parables from the Holy Scriptures, hymns and 
verses, should be known by heart; they should be able to give answers 
on the most interesting points of the history of the church and the Reform- 
ation. 

II. As to general history, there is no need of its being circumstantially 
or profoundly known ; but the young men should be able to refer with 
exactness to those historical facts which may be profitably used to form 
the heart, to exercise and rectify the judgment, to infuse a taste for all 
that is grand and noble, true and beautiful. 

III. Geometry (the study of forms) combined with elementary drawing, 
the one as a basis for instruction in writing and drawing, and as a pre- 
paration for the mathematics ; the other to exercise the hand, the eye and 
the taste. 

IV. Writing. The copies by Henrich and Henning only ought to be 
used, which, after long practice, give and preserve a beautiful hand, even 
when writing fast and much. 

V. Logical Exercises. These ought to tend to produce in young 
minds clearness and accuracy of ideas, justness of judgment, and, by con- 
sequence, precision and facility in oral and written explanations. 

VI. Reading. When once the pupil can read fluently, he must be 
taught to give emphasis to his reading, and to feel what he reads. He 
should be habituated to recite, and even gradually to analyze the phrases 
and periods he has just read, to change the order, and express the same 
idea in different words, — to put, for example, poetry into prose, &c. Thus 
these exercises serve at the same time to teach him to think, and to speak. 
We advise also that he be made to declaim pieces he has learnt by heart. 

VII. German langimge and composition. Language should be re- 
garded and treated on the one hand as a means o? formal instruction. — 
as practical logic ; and on the other as an indispensable object of material 
instruction. 

VIII. Arithmetic. This does not include either methods of abstruse 
calculation or practical arithmetic. Nothing more is required of the pupil 
than to use figures without difficulty, and to calculate in his head. 

IX. Singing, piano forte, violin. The formation of the voice and ear. 
Skill and firmness in producing sounds. Exercises in elementary sing- 
ing. Psalmody. 

For the piano forte and violin, as much dexterity as can be expected, 
and a good fingering for the former instrument. 

If these suggestions have the effect of inducing a conscientious master 
to train well even a few young candidates, they will have attained their 
object. 



74 PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. 

The enumeration of a great number of works from which assistance 
may be derived, at least facilitates the choice. 

9. OUTWARD CONDITION OF THE POPILS ; AND THE NATURE OF THEIR CON- 
NECTION WITH THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

If the young men have no relations atPotsdam who can answer for their 
good conduct and application, they are all, without exception, bound to 
live in the Normal School, and to take their food there, paying to the 
director the sum of twelve thaler (11. 16s.) per quarter. 

Each pupil costs the establishment 100 thaler a year. In paying, 
therefore, the yearly sum of forty-eight thaler, required bylaw, he defrays 
only half his expenses. A bursar is entitled to lodging, firing, board, 
candles, and instruction. A half bursar pays only twenty-four thaler a 
year. He has then only to buy^ his clothes, to pay for his washing, his 
books, paper, pens, ink, and whatever is wanted for music and drawing. 

With respect to lodging, they are distributed into five large rooms, with 
stoves, appropriated to the pupils ; and they live and work, to the number 
of eight, twelve, or sixteen, in one of these rooms, which is furnished with 
tables, chairs, drawers, book-cases, bureaus, and piano fortes. Their 
beds and chests are put in two dormitories. Each sitting-room, each 
bed-room, has its inspector, chosen from among the pupils, who is respon- 
sible tor its order. It is the duty of one of the pupils belonging to the 
chamber to arrange and dust the furniture every day. Neglect in the 
fulfilment of his olfice is punished by the continuance of it. 

So long as the pupils remain at the Noi'mal School, and behave with 
propriety, they are exempt from military service. 

AH the pupils are bound to pursue the course of the Normal School for 
three years ; their acquirements and instruction would be incomplete if 
they did not conform to this regulation. 

10. EDUCATION OF THE PUPILS BY MEANS OF DISCIPLINE AND OF IN- 
STRUCTION; 

In the education of the masters of primary schools the wants of the 
people must be consulted. 

A religious and moral education is the first want of a people. Without 
this, every other education is not only without real utility, but in some 
respects dangerous. If, on the contrary, religious education has taken 
firm root, intellectual education will have complete success, and ought on 
no account to be withheld from the people, since God has endowed them 
with all the faculties for acquiring it, and since the cultivation of all the 
powers of man, secures to him the means of reaching perfection, and, 
through that, supreiTie happiness. 

To sustain and confirm the religious and moral spirit of our pupils, we 
adopt vai-ious means. We take particular care that they go to church 
every Sunday : they are not compelled to attend exclusively the parish 
church of the Normal School ; but on tlie Monday they are required to 
name the church they went to, and to give an account of the sermon. 
Every Sunday, at six o'clock in the morning, one of the oldest pupils 
reads, in turn, a sermon, in the presence of all the pupils and one master. 
At the beginning and end they sing a verse of a psalm, accompanied on 
the organ. A prayer, about ten or fifteen minutes long, is offered up 
every morning and night, by one of the masters. They begin with sing- 
ing one or two verses ; then follows a religious address, or the reading of 
a chapter from the Bible, and, in conclusion, another verse. 

To obtain a moral influence over the pupils, we consider their individual 
position, their wants, and their conduct. Much aid in this respect is de- 
rived from the weekly conferences of the masters, and particularly trom' 
the quarterly report (Censicr) of the pupils, or judgment on the applica- 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. irg 

tion, progress, and conduct of each. This is written in a particular boolt, 
called the report-book (Censurbuch,) and forms the basis of the certificates 
delivered to the pupils on their leaving the establishment ; as well as of 
private advice given at the time. 

The means of correction adopted, are. warnings, exhortations, repri- 
mands ; at first privately, then at the conference of the masters ; lastly, 
before all the pupils. If these means do not suffice, recourse is had to 
confinement, to withdrawing the stipendia or exhibitions, and in the last 
resort, to expulsion. But we endeavor, as much as possible, to prevent 
these punishments, by keeping up a friendly intercourse with the pupils, 
by distinguishing the meritorious, by striving to arouse a noble emula- 
tion, and to stir up in their hearts the desire of gaining esteem and respect 
by irreproachable conduct. 

It is on the interest given to the lessons that especially depends the 
application of study out of class. Certain hours of tlie day are consecra- 
ted to private study, and each master by turns takes upon himself to see 
that quiet is maintained in the rooms, and that all are properly occupied. 

At the end of each month, the last lesson, whatever the branch of in- 
struction, is a recapitulation, in the form of an examination, on the sub- 
jects treated of in the course of the month. 

As to the branches of knowledge taught, and the course of study, the 
following is the fundamental plan : 

In the first ye-dv formal instruction predominates : in the second, mate- 
rial instruction ; in the third, practical instruction* The pupils having 
then about ten lessons a week to give in the annexed school, (lessons tor 
which they must be well prepared,) follow fewer courses in the school. 

Our principal aim, in each kind of instruction, is to induce the young 
men to think and judge for themselves. We are opposed to all mechani- 
cal study and servile transcripts. The masters of our primary schools 
must possess intelligence themselves, in order to be able to awaken it in 
their pupils ; otherwise, the state would doubtless prefer the less expen- 
sive schools of Bell and Lancaster. 

We always begin with the elements, because we are compelled to ad- 
mit, at least at present, pupils whose studies have been neglected ; and 
because we wish to organize the instruction in every branch, so as to 
afford the pupils a model and guide in the lessons wJiich they will one 
day be called upon to give. 

With respect to material instruction, we regard much more the solidity, 
than the extent, of the acquirements. This not only accords with the in- 
tentions of the higher authorities, but reason itself declares that solidity of 
knowledge. alone can enable a master to teach v/ith efficacy, and carry 
forward his own studies with success. Thus, young men of delicate 
health are sometimes exempted from certain branches of study, such as 
the mathematics, thorough bass, and natural philosophy. 

Gardening is taught in a piece of ground before the Nauen gate; and 
swimming, in the swimming-school established before the Berlin gate, 
during the proper season, from seven to nine in the evening. 

Practical instruction we consider of the greatest importance. 

All the studies and all the knowledge of our pupils v/ould be fruitless, 
and the Normal School would not fulfil the design of its institution, if the 
young teachers were to quit the establishment without having already 
methodically applied what they had learned, and without knowing by 
experience what they have to do, and how to set about it. 

* Formal instruction consists of studies calculated to open the mind, and to inculcate on the pu- 
pils good methods in every branch, and the feeling of what is the true vocation of a primary teacher. 
Material instruction^ or more positive instruction, occupies the second year, in which the pupils go 
through the special studies of every solid kind, much of vviiich they may never he called upon to 
teach. Practical instruction, or instruction in the art of teaching, occupies the third year. 



76 PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. 

To obtain this result, it is not sufficient that the younger men should 
see the course gone through under skillful masters, or that they should 
themselves occasionally give lessons to their school-fellows; they must 
have taught the children in the annexed school for a long time, under the 
direction of the masters of the Normal School. It is only by familiarizing 
themselves with the plan of instruction for each particular branch, and by 
teaching each for a certain time themselves, that they can acquire the 
habit of treating it with method. 

11. ANNEXED SCHOOL. 

The annexed school was founded in 1825, and received gratuitously 
from 160 to 170 boys. The higher authorities, in granting considerable 
funds for the establishment of this school, have been especially impelled 
by the benevolent desire of securing to the great mass of poor children in 
this town the means of instruction, and of relieving the town from the 
charge of their education. 

The town authorities agreed, on their part, to pay the establishment 
one thaler and five silber-groschen (3s. Qd.) a year for each child. On 
this condition we supply the children gratuitously with the books, slates, 
&c. which they want. 

The annexed school is a primary school, which is divided into four 
classes, but reckons only three degrees : the second and third classes are 
separated from each other only for the good of the pupils, and for the 
purpose of affording more practice to the young masters. 

The first class, with the two above it, forms a good and complete ele- 
mentary school ; while the highest presents a class of a burgher school, 
where the most advanced pupils of the Normal School, who v/iU probably 
be one day employed in the town schools, give instruction to the cleverest 
boys ot' the annexed school. 

The most advanced class of the students of the Normal School to be 
employed in the school for practice, is divided into five ccetus, or divisions, 
each composed of five or six pupils. Each division teaches two subjects 
only during two months and a half, and then passes on to two other sub- 
jects ; so that each has practical exercise in all the matters taught, in 
succession. 

As Car as possible, all the classes of the school for practice attend to the 
same subject at the same hour. The master of the Normal School, who 
has prepared the young masters beforehand, is present during the lesson. 
He listens, observes, and guides them during the lessons, and afterward 
communicates his observations and his opinion of the manner in Vk^hich 
the lesson was given. Each class has a journal for each branch of in- 
struction, in which what has been taught is entered after the lesson. As 
far as possible, the young master who is to give the next lesson, witnesses 
that of his predecessor. By this m_eans, and particularly through the 
special direction of the whole practical instruction by a master of the 
Normal School, the connection and gradation of the lessons is completely 
secured. 

It is requisite that every pupil of the Normal School should teach all the 
branches in the lowest class in succession ; for the master of a primary 
school, however learned he may be, is ignorant of the most indispensable 
part of his calling, if he can not teach the elements. 

12. DEPARTURE FROM THE NORTvIAL SCHOOL; EXAMINATIONS; CERTIFI- 
CATE AND APPOINTMENT. 

The pupils quit the Normal School after having pursued the course for 
three j^ears ; for the lengthening of their stay would be an obstacle to the 
reception of new pupils. 

But they must first go through an examination in writing and viva voce, 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. Y^ 

as decreed by the ordinance of the minister of pubUc instruction and ec- 
clesiastical and medical affairs, of which we give an abstract: 

" 1. All the pupils of the primary Normal Schools in the kingdom shall 
go through an examination on leaving. 

2. The examinations shall be conducted by all the masters of the 
Normal School, on all the subjects taught in the house, in the presence 
and under the direction of one or more commissioners delegated by the 
provincial school board. 

3. Every pupil, before leaving, shall give a probationary lesson, to 
show to what degree he possesses the art of teaching. 

4. After the examination is over, and exact accounts of the pupils 
leaving are given by the director and all the masters, a certificate shall 
be dehvered to each pupil, signed by the director, the masters and the 
commissioners. 

5. This certificate shall specify the knowledge and talents of the pupil ; 
it shall state whether he possesses the art of teaching, and whether his 
moral character renders him fit for the office of primary schoolmaster. It 
shall include, besides, a general opinion of his character and attainments, 
expressed by one of the terms, 'excellent,' 'good," passable,' and answer- 
ing to the numbers 1, 2, 3. 

6. This certificate only gives the pupil a provisional power of receiv- 
ing an appointment for three years. After that time he must undergo a 
new examination at the Normal School. Bat any pupil who, on leaving 
the establishment, obtained number 1, and has, in the course of the three 
first years, been teacher in a public school, shall not have to pass another 
examination. No others can take a situation, except provisionally. 

7. These new examinations shall not take place at the same time as 
those of the pupils who are leaving; but, like those, a'ways in the pres- 
ence and under the direction of the commissioners of the school board. 

8. In the first examinations the principal object is, to ascertain if the 
pupils have well understood the lessons of the Normal School, and learn- 
ed to apply them ; in the last, the only object of inquiry is the practical 
skill of the candidate. 

9. The result of this new examination shall likewise be expressed in 
a certificate, appended to the first, and care shall be taken to specify 
therein the fitness of the candidate for the profession of schoolmaster." 

For which reason, the pupils on their departure receive a certificate, the 
first page of which describes their talents, character and morahty, and the 
two Ibllowing contain an exact account of the result of the examination 
on all branches ef study. 

Those who have not obtained appointments in the interval between the 
two examinations, shall present this certificate to the superintendents and 
school-inspectors of the places where they live, and, on leaving that place, 
shall demand a certificate of conduct, v/hich they shall produce at the 
time of the second examination. Those who have been in situations 
during the three first years, shall produce certificates from their immedi- 
ate superiors. 

All the pupils can not be appointed immediately on their leaving the 
school : but a great number of them are proposed by the director for va- 
cant places, and are sought after by the royal government, by superin- 
tendents, magistrates, &c. ; so that at the end of a year we may calculate 
that they are all established. 

M. Cousin, in his " Report on Public Instruction in Prussia" after 
publishing the foregoing account, remarks : 

" I can answer for the perfect fidelity of this description of the Normal 
School of Potsdam. 
I saw this scheme in action. The spirit which dictated the arrange- 



7g PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. 

ment and distribution of the tuition is excellent, and equally pervades all 
the details. The Normal course, which occupies three years, is compos- 
ed, for the first year, of studies calculated to open the mind, and to incul- 
cate on the pupils good methods in every branch, and the teeling of what 
is the true vocation of a primary teacher. This is what is called the 
formal instruction, in opposition to the material or more positive instruc- 
tion of the second year, in which the pupils y;o through special studies of 
a very solid kind, and learn considerably more than they will generally be 
called upon to teach. The third year is entirely practical, and is devoted 
to learning the art ofteaching. This is precisely the plan which I take 
credit to myself for having followed in the organization of the studies of 
the great central Normal School of Paris, for the training of masters for 
the royal and communal colleges. At Potsdam, likewise, the third year 
comprises the sum of tlie two preceding, and the pupils are already re- 
garded as masters. In this view there is a primary school annexed to 
the Normal School, in which the students in their third year give lessons, 
under the superintendence of the masters of the Normal School. The 
children who attend this primary school pay, or rather the tov/n pays for 
them, only four thaler (ISs.) a year; there are 170. Tliey are divided, 
according to their progress, into four classes, which are taught by the 
twenty or five and twenty students, or apprentice masters, in their third 
year, with all the ardor of youth and of a new vocation. I was present 
at several of these lessons, which were extremely well given. A master 
of the Normal School frequently attends one of the classes, and, when 
the lesson is finished, makes observations to the young masters, and gives 
them practical lessons, by which they can immediately profit. 

As appears from the prospectus, the musical instruction is carried to a 
very high point. There are fevv^ students who have not a violin, and 
many of them leave the school very good organists and piano Ibrte play- 
ers. Singing is particularly cultivated. The course of instruction em- 
braces not only a little botany, mineralogy, physical science, natural his- 
tory, and zoology, but exercises in psychology and logic, which tend to 
give the young men tlie philosophy of that portion of popular education 
intrusted to their care. I was present at several lessons ; among others, 
one on history and chronology, in which, out of courtesy to me, the pupils 
were interrogated on the history of France, particularly during the reigns 
of Charles IX., and Flenry III., and Henry IV., — a period of which Prot- 
estantism is so important a feature. The young men answered extremely 
well, and seemed perfectly familiar with the dates and leading facts. I 
say nothing of the gymnastic courses, as Prussia is the classic land of 
those exercises. 

What struck me the most was the courses, called in Germany courses 
oi' Method ik and Diclaklik, as also those designated by the name of Fa- 
dagogik: the two former intended to teach the art of tuition, the latter 
the more difficult art of m.oral education. These courses are more partic- 
ularly calculated for the acting masters, who come back to perfect them- 
selves at the Normal School ; for which reason they are not entered in 
the table, or prospectus, which exhibits only the regular studies of the 
school. These courses are almost always given by the director, who also 
generally gives the religious instruction, whicli here comes in its proper 
place, — that is, first. 

I ought to add that all the students of the school at Potsdam had a 
cheerful happy air, and that their manners were very good. If they 
brought any rusticity to the school, they had entirely lost it. I quitted 
the establishment highly satisfied with the students, full of esteem for the 
director, and of respect for a country in which the education of the people 
has reached such a pitch of prosperity." 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL, 

AT BRUHL. 



The Normal School at Bruhl may be regarded as a type of the establish- 
ment for teachers of the Catholic faith, as that at Potsdam is of the Prot- 
estant institutions. The following account is abridged from an annual Re- 
port of its principal, Mr. Schweitzer, a Catholic clergyman. 

" The town of Bruhl stands in a beautiful plain on the left bank of the 
Rhine, two leagues from Koln, three froni Bonn, and a short league from 
the river. It is surrounded, by fertile fields and picturesque villages. Di- 
rectly before it majestically rises the ancient Co Ionia, with its numerous 
towers and steeples, and its colossal cathedral. It bounds the view on that 
side: on the right, the Sisbengeuirge* traces its gigantic outlines on the 
blue distance, and on that side presents to the eye a picture of grandeur and 
repose. From some neighboring bights the lover of natural beauty looks 
dov/n with admiration on the plains which lie outspread before him, and the 
silvery luster of the m.ajestic Rhine, which, in its ample windings, rolls peace- 
fully along, as if it delighted to linger in these smiling regions, while two 
long chains of hills seem to hold this m_agnificent plain in their embrace. 
One of these chains stretches along the left bank of the Rhine, to the Eifel 
Mountains, and is for that reason called the Vorgebirge — (fore or introduc- 
tory range) : at the foot of this chain is Bruhl. The summit is clothed with 
the forest of Vill, a,nd the undulating sides are dotted with country-houses 
and pretty villages, the houses of which are half hidden among fruit-trees. 
At the blossoming season these villages present the most delightful aspect, 
and help to compose a picture of enchanting variety. It is not without rea- 
son, then, that Bruhl was the favorite residence of the Electoral Archbishops 
of Koln, and in former tiroes this little town was far more important than it 
now is. At the present day Bruhl consists of only 278 houses, among 
which are many poor mud cottages, and contains only from fourteen to 
fifceen hundred inhabitants. Since it ceased to be the residence of the Elect- 
ors, its inhabitants nearly all live by agriculture, and by a small trade. 
There are only two remarkable buildings, — the palace, whieh is abandoned, 
and the monastery. This latter building is occupied by the establishment 
under ray care. ' 

" The monastery was formerly the nursery of the order of Franciscan 
monks for the whole province of Koln. After the suppression of the order 
on the left bank of the Rhine, in 1807, Napoleon gave the monastery and 
its dependencies to the town of Bruhl, which, in 1812, granted them to 
Messrs. Schug and Schumacher for the establishment of a secondary and 
commercial school, whose existence closed in 1822. At the end of that 
year, the town ceded these buildings to the government, for the establish- 
ment of the primary normal school which now occupies them. 

1. BUILDINGS. 

" The house is built in a grand style, with three stories, and in a quadran* 
gular form. The entrance is to the north, and leads by a small fore court, 

* The cluster of aeveu mountains nearly opposite to Bonn. 



80 PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 

on the one side into the convent, on the other into the chnrch, which is 
handsome, light, and lofty. The high altar, of artificial marble, and the 
organ, are much admired. On the south side are two wings, v/hich give the 
buildings a handsome and palace-like appearance. From the very entrance, 
the cloisters are wide, with lofty vaulted roofs, cheerful and well lighted. 
They run quite round the building, as do the corridors over them on the 
first and second stories. On the ground floor we have four rooms or halls 
for study, and a large and very light dining-hall, which serves also for our 
public meetings, for study and for prayer. Beside it, are two school-rooms, 
and two rooms for the steward, with kitchen, offices and servants' hall in the 
basement story, where the porter has also his kitchen and two rooms. The 
establishment has a pump, abundantly supplied with fine water, near the 
kitchen ; a rivulet which runs under the two wings is of great importance 
for purposes of cleanliness. 

" The director occupies the eastern side of the building on the first floor ; 
the inspector, the left wing and a part of the southern side ; the steward has 
the rest of that side ; the right Aving and the western side are inhabited by 
an ancient father and brother of the Franciscan order, — regarded as the last 
remnant of a once flourishing body, now extinct — and by the master of the 
school for practice. There are no rooms to the north, only corridors adjoin- 
ing the church. 

" The assistant masters inhabit the upper story, in which are also five hos- 
pital rooms to the south, and two large dormitories for the students to the 
east and west of the main building. A granary or loft, in good repair, runs 
over the whole of the building, and affords both steward and masters conve- 
nient stowage for their stock of grain of all kinds. 

" Both masters and pupils have ample reason to be satisfied with the 
rooms for study and for dwelling. The masters' apartments are not hand- 
some, it is true ; other schools have better: with a little cleaning and dec- 
oration they might, however, be made very comfortable. The students' dor- 
mitories are cheerful, and better fitted up than any I have seen in any nor- 
mal school ; their appearance is very neat .and agreeable, with the clean beds 
all covered alike, which can be done only where they are furnished by the 
establishment. This house has only one inconvenience, — violent currents 
of air ; but these might, I think, be remedied. 

" The outside of the building is as agreeable as the inside is convenient ', 
it is situated on the prettiest side of the town, and has no communication 
with any other building except the palace, with which it is connected by a 
covered way, and by the old orangery. It has a magnificent view over a de- 
lightful country, a large kitchen-garden, a commodious court, and two flow- 
er-gardens. 

" The building is of stone, and consequently veiy substantial ; its aspect 
is indeed a little hoary now, but a new coat of plaster would soon give it a 
cheerful appearance. The roof is in good condition, and if once the build- 
ing underwent a thorough repair, the whole might be kept up at a very 
small expense. During the past year no great repairs have been done. 

2. ntjmber ot students. 

" The number of students is fixed at a hundred ; at this moment there are 
ninety-two. The object of the establishment is to train schoolmasters foi 
the Catholic parishes of the four regencies of Coblentz, Koln, Aachen, and 
Dusseldorf. Its position with relation to the government is, in principle, to 
receive the pupils from its hands, and to render them back accomplished for 
their task. In the other normal schools the rule is, that the candidates for 
admission be examined by the schoolmasters, and by them declared fit oj" 
unfit to be either entered or immediately admitted ; but here it is the cus- 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. • 81 

torn for them to be examined in the department they come from, without 
any intervention of the school, and afterward admitted by the director on 
the nomination of the government. On the other hand, the parting exam- 
ination rests with the school, under the condition of a special commissioner 
being present. The pupil declared fit for nomination is not subject to be 
re-examined by the government authorities. According to its regulations,. 
the school is not only authorized, but obliged, at the end of the first year, to 
send away the pupils who are judged incapable of attaining the requisite 
excellence. At the time of the last parting examination, the school had 
been obliged to exercise this power in the case of eight pupils, which re- 
duced their number to ninety-tv/o. 

3. HEALTH. 

"The health of the students was not so good in 1824 as in the preceding 
year; as sufficiently appears from the bill for medical attendance for the two 
years. 

" In 1823 this amounted to 66 thaler (9Z. 18s.), in 1824 to 177 thaler (26Z. 
lis.) But we must not forget that the number of pupils in the latter year^ 
as compared with the former, was as three to two. There have indeed been 
no contagious diseases, and few of a serious character, but frequent inflam- 
matory and catarrhal fevers, some intermittent and one nervous fever. In- 
flammatory ophthalmia, attacks on the chest, and palpitations of the heart 
have not been rare. The physician has paid the pupils great attention, in- 
deed I might almost say too much ; and I have agreed with him that he shall 
not order them medicines, except in cases where diet, rest, perspiration, and 
domestic remedies are insufficient. In order to prevent the young men from 
abusing the facility of applying to a physician, I have ordered that no one 
shall, for the future, consult him without my permission. Infectious cutane- 
ous diseases are avoided by having the pupils examined by the physician on 
their entrance, and again a week after. If any well-founded suspicions arise, 
separation takes place as a measure of precaution ; if the appearances of a 
contagious disease are certain, the pupil is sent home till perfectly cured. 

4. ORDER, DISCIPLINE, AND MORALITY. 

"Without rigid attention to order, we could not hope for the smallest 
success. In an establishment composed of various elements, like this nor- 
mal school, where young men who differ in language (dialect), m.anners, 
and education are gathered together, there must be rigorous obedience to 
rule. In domestic life, the head of the family is the rule ; and in a large es- 
tablishment, unquestionably those who govern are strictly bound to furnish 
an example to all under them. They are that spring of the great machine 
which cannot cease to move without stopping the whole. But it is also ne- 
cessary that the establishment should have its precise rules, its written code 
of laws. The governors, it is true, fill the place of the law whenever it is 
silent ; but all, without distinction, ought to know accurately what they must 
do, and what they may do. For this reason, the undersigned cannot share 
the opinion of some very estimable teachers who think it not necessary, nor 
even expedient, that there be written laws for an establishment like the pri- 
mary normal school ; nay, that their promulgation may operate only as an 
incitement to break them. Laws seem to me to grow out of the very na- 
ture of the institution. Gather together a number of young men without 
laying down any rule for them ; they themselves will soon feel the neces- 
sity of making laws for the government of their intercourse with each other, 
and will choose one of their body as guardian of these laws. It is, then, 
natural, useful, and fitting that the managers and masters should make laws 



Q2 " PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 

for (he school confided to them. If it be true that laws create the tempta^. 
Ii0|n to breali them, that is a reason why laws for all human society ought 
to be abolished. Fixed laws give to an institution a steady course, protect 
the weaker against caprice and tyranny, prevent mistakes and precipitation, 
and, what is more important for the future, they show in a clear and striliing 
manner the necessity of laws for the commonwealth, and train youth to a 
reasonable and willing obedience to them. The opinion I offer here springs 
from my general conviction of the utility of positive written laws, which my 
own experience has greatly strengthened. For in those infractions of order 
and discipline which have occasionally happened, I have contented myself 
with punishing the fiiult by reading the infringed law to the culprit, in a 
calm but severe manner, either in private or before all the pupils assembled; 
and this punishment has never failed of its effect. 

" After this digression, which I hn.ve thought it expedient to insert here, I 
return to the order of the house. It is our duty to make the utmost possi- 
ble use of the dayligiit, as being more healthful, more cheerful, and more 
perfect than lamp-light, and costing nothing. In our situation, it would be 
unpardonable to turn night into day. I make it a great point, too, that the 
young men should get the habit of rising early, so that in the evening they 
may lay aside all anxiety and all labor, and give themselves up to the enjoy- 
ment of tra.nquil and refreshing sleep. In summer, therefore, we rise at 
four, and even earlier when the days are at the longest ; in winter at six, in 
spring and autumn at five. In summer, I a,nd my pupils go to bed at nine 
or half past, in spring and vfinter at ten. The pupils ring the reveille by turns ; 
a quarter of an hour after, the bell rings again, and all assemble in the din-, 
ing-hall, where the morning prayer is said; then they all follov/ me to the 
church, where I perform the service of the holy mass. One of the students 
assists in the service; the others sing the responses; this religious act, for 
which we use the prayer-book and psalter of Bishop Von Hom.mer, is some- 
times mingled with singing, but rarely, because singing very early in the 
morning is said to be injurious to the voice aaad chest. All is terminated in 
an hour ; and the pupils, after having thus sanctified the first hour of ir.orn- 
ing, return to the house, make their beds, breakfast, and then prepare for 
lessons, which begin at seven or at eight, according to the season. In es- 
tablishing this rule, I had some fears, at first, that rising so early and going 
directly into a cold church in the depth of winter, might be injurious to their 
health ; but I am alwa,ys there before them, and I have never suffered. It 
may be said that I am more warmly clothed than the young men;, but then 
they are young, their blood is warmer than mine, and that restores the bal- 
ance. Moreover, it cannot but be advantageous to them to harden them- 
Hclves, while habits of indulgence and delicacy v/ould be extremely unfavor- 
able to them in their profession. On the Sundays and festivals of the church, 
I say mass to the students at half past eight in the morning. They sing a 
German mass for four voices, or simple chants and hymns ; and, on high 
festivals, Latin mass. During the last year, the pupils of the first class have 
Keveral times executed some easy masses extremely well. But, generally 
speaking, I am not perfectly satisfied with our church music ; not that our 
masters and pupils do not do their best, but we have not a suitable supply 
of church music. The singing in Catholic churches is subject to a particular 
condition : it must be connected with the acts of tlie mass; it must form a 
whole, distinct, and yet in harmony with the mass, and moreover, must be 
adapted to each of the epochs of the ecclesiastical year. Now we liave very 
little church music fit for the people. What there is, is in the hands of a 
few individuals, who do not choose to part vn'\\i it. There is doubtless an 
abundance of sacred music suited to every occasion, but it is all in the most 
elevated style ; and to what good end should the studies of the pupils be 
pushed so far beyond what can be of use to them in their future sphere of 



PrJMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 83 

action ? Music of the highest order never can nor ought to become the 
property of the people. Music ought not to be cultivated as a mere grati- 
fication of a sense ; it ought to help to ennoble and refine the heart, and to 
form the moral taste. 

"It does not signify so much how they sing, as what they sing. In pri- 
mary normal schools music ought not, any moi-e than reading, to be the 
principal object; it must be regarded and treated as a meaiiS toward a 
higher end, which is, education and moral culture. It is therefore with rea- 
son that the primary normal schools arc required to diffuse a nobler and 
more Avorthy kind of popular sacred music; this is, as regards music, their 
proper office. A good composer, vv'ho would devote himself to this object, 
might acquire immortal honor. It is to be wished that the higher authori- 
ties, particularly of the church, would encourage composers who show a 
genius for sacred music, to fill this chasm. In these remarks I have in view, 
it is true, only the Catholic church. It is quite otherwise with the Protest- 
ant, which possesses a great store of psalms ; there is only to choose what 
are appropriate to the sermon. This greatly facilitates the task of the Prot- 
estant normal schools. In the Catholic worship, on the contrary, the sermon 
is only a subordinate part of a higher whole, wilh which the singing must 
harmonize, adapting itself to the different important moments, and hence 
the scarcit}'- of simple counterpoint fit I'or the purpose. To attain the pro- 
posed end, we ought to have, not only a good organist, but also an able 
composer, which it is not easy to find. I return to the order of the day. 

" As the day begins with prayer, so it ends with it. A quarter of an hour 
or half an hour before going to bed, all the pupils assemble, at the sound of 
the bell, for evening devotions. A short portion of the holy scripture is 
read, and after enlarging more or less on a text, and recommending it to im- 
itation, I conclude by a prayer. During tlie past year I preached a homilet- 
ical discourse on the lesson of the day, before mass pvery Sunday morning; 
but as it becomes difficult for me to speak f,i,sting, I now reserve it till even- 
ing. It has also been decided, that as a means of keeping alive religious 
and moral feelingr3, the pupils should confess and communicate once a month, 
unless particular reasons render it expedient to prolong the interval to six 
weeks, or, at furthest, two months. The rest of the day is employed ac- 
cording to the scheme of lessons and the order enjoined by the minister. 
The pupils are not allowed to go out, except on the weekly afternoon holi- 
day; and this is sufficient for their health, because in all their hours of rec- 
reation they can take exercise in a garden of two acres which belongs to the 
establishment. Nevertheless, on fine days I occasionally give them leave to 
make expeditions into the country, when I think their health will be bene- 
fited by it; making it an express condition that they shall take no pipes. 

" It is good to correct faults ; better still to prevent them. Abundance 
of arguments have been adduced in support of the principle that we must 
Let children have their will, in order that their will m?.y become vigor- 
ous, and wait till the time when the reason expands to give it a lofty direc- 
tion. But this is letting the tares overtop the v/heat before we attempt to 
root them out. Experience proves that the good seed springs up more vig- 
oronsly and thrives better when the soil has been cleared of weeds. Dis- 
cipline ought, therefore, to precede and to accompany the instruction of 
young men, as docility and modesty that of cb.ildren. Doubtless external 
reverence and reserve are but the beginning of wisdom ; man must be 
brought to think spontaneously and without external impulse, of the duties 
he lies under, so that it may become his inclination to fulfill whatever he has 
clearly recognized as a duty, to consult nothing but conscience, and to set 
himself above the praise and the blame of men. This is true and uncon- 
tested ; nevertheless, the flesh is always weak, even though the spirit be 
willing; and there are few of those elect for whom approbation and cen- 



54 PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 

sure, remonstrances and encouragements, hope and fear, are not necessary 
helps ; and for that reason, such helps are used for great and small, in pri- 
vate houses as well as in schools, in church as well as in state, and will 
never fail, if wisely used, to have a salutary eifect. A hard ascetical con- 
straint and discipline are as far from my taste as from my principles ; but 
experience demands rigorous order in great schools, especially at their out- 
set. When order has once been thoroughly established, when the will of 
each has learned to bend to the unity of the collective body, the early se- 
verity may be relaxed, and give place to kindness and indulgence. As long 
as I can recollect, I have observed that the education of children is best in 
houses where this principle is observed. To let children grow perverse and 
wayward in their infancy through weak tenderness and indulgence, and then 
to reprove and chastise them with harshness when their habits are formed, 
cannot be other than a false system. For these reasons we always begin 
by reading the rules and disciplinary laws of the house, so that the pupils 
may distinctly know what they have to do ; we then take care that these 
laws are strictly enforced. The masters, on their side, are careful to show 
the most punctual obedience to all their duties. We afterward read por- 
tions of the rules, according to circumstances, and to the demand for any 
particular part; thus the discipline is strengthened and facilitated. The 
highest punishment is expulsion ; and last year we were obliged to resort 
to this twice. In ail cases we try to proportion the punishment to the fault, 
so as to conduce to the amendment of the culprit and the good of all. For 
instance, if one of the pupils lies in bed from indolence, he is deprived of his 
portion of meat at dinner, and for four days, a week, or a fortnight, as it 
may be, is obliged to declare his i3resence when we meet in the morning. 
Being kept at home on holidays, ringing the bell, fetching -water, &c., are 
the only corporal punishments for faults of indolence and infractions of 
order. Faults of impatience or carelessness, of insincerity or mischievous- 
ness, of coarseness or any sort of incivilit}^ offenses against decency or good 
manners, are punished by notes in the inspection-book, which the culprits 
themselves are obliged to sign. As to the conduct of the students when 
out of the house, the authorities and inhabitants of the whole neighborhood 
unanimously bear witness that the presence of these young men is in no 
way perceived. It is not difficult to speak to their hearts, and by expostu- 
lation suited to their age and station, to touch them even to tears. 

" Of this I could cite several instances, did I not fear prolonging this Re- 
port. I wdll, however, give one. Last year the students of the highest 
class were dissatisfied with the steward, and presented a petition very nu- 
merously signed, in which they enumerated their causes of complaint, and 
asked to have him removed. I gave the petition to him, that he might an- 
swer the charges ; and after he had made his defense, I suffered accusers 
and accused to plead their cause, at the time of one of the religious lessons. 
The steward was not irreproachable ; his fiiult was, indeed, evident enough : 
on the other hand, the complaint was exaggerated, invidious, inexact, and in- 
considerate ; for several had signed without reading ; others had signed be- 
cause such or such a point seemed to them just ; others again had shown 
themselves extremely active in collecting signatures, and had reproached 
those who refused to sign. The affair being clearly and circumstantially 
stated, the steward had his share of the reprimand, and was deeply affected 
by it ; others were moved to tears ; and the offenders, when the unbecom- 
ing, inconsiderate, and even criminal points of their conduct were distinctly , 
explained to them, acknowledged theii- injustice, and promised never to act 
in the like manner again. 

" Order and discipline, instruction and prayer, are thus regarded and em- 
ployed as so many means, general and particular, for cultivating the moral- 
ity of the pupils ; and the undersigned, during the short time he has had the 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 35 

care of the institution, has ha,d the satisfiiction of seeing many who entered 
it with bad and distressing habits, leave it metamorphosed and renewed. 
Sedateness and modesty have been substituted for giddiness ; the spirit of 
temperance for craving after sensual enjoyments; and those who came to 
seek but ordinary bread, have acquired a taste for purer and higher food. 
It is hardly possible that among so many, a vicious one should not occa- 
sionally creep in ; and last year, among the new-comers, was a cunning and 
accomplished thief, whose depredations filled the establishment with dissat- 
isfaction and alarm. It was difhculfc to find him out, but falsehood and per- 
versity betray themselves in the end. Heavy suspicions were accumulated 
during the year on the head of the criminal ; and though there were not pos- 
itive proofs, he could not so escape our vigilance as not to leave us in pos- 
session of a moral certainty against him. He was expelled at the examina- 
tion of last year. Nevertheless, as there was no legal proof, his name was 
not stigmatized by publicity, and the higher authorities will readily excuse 
my not mentioning it here, and will be satisfied with the assurance tliat no 
misfortune of the kind has since occurred. 

5. INSTRUCTION. 

The business of the primary normal school is to form schoolmasters. 
It must therefore furnish its pupils with the sum of knowledge which the 
state has declared indispensably necessary to the intellectual wants of the 
lower classes of the people, of whom they are to be the teachers, and must 
afterward fit them to fulfill their important vocation with zeal and with a 
religious will and earnestness. 

No more than grapes can be gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles, 
can any thing good be hoped from schoolmasters who are regardless of re- 
ligion and of morality. For this reason, religious instruction is placed at the 
head of all other parts of education: its object is to implant in the normal 
schools such a moral and religious spirit as ought to pervade the popular 
schools. The course of religious instruction has undergone no change from 
that stated in the report of last year, except that the several classes have 
been united for the Biblical part. During the present year we propose to 
treat the concordance of the Gospels, the history of the Apostles, and some 
of the Epistles. The course adopted is this: — The series of the concord- 
ance is established and dictated by the master; the passages and discourses 
are explained, and, if thought expedient, learnt by heart by the pupils. For 
the catechising, or religious and moral instruction, properly so called, the 
classes are separated. The great catechism of Overberg is taken as a 
ground-work; and we treat first of faith, then of morals, so that the latter 
may 'be intimately connected with the former, or to speak better, that moral- 
ity may flow from faith as from its source. I regard religion as a disposi- 
tion or affection of the soul, which unites man, in all his actions, with God ; 
and he alone is truly religious who possesses this disposition, and strives by 
every means to cherish it. In this view of the subject all morality is reli- 
gious, because it raises man to God, and teaches him to live in God. I 
must confess, that in religious instruction I do not confine myself to any 
particular method ; I try by meditation to bring the thing clearly before my 
own mind, and then to expound it intelligibly, in fitting language, ^vith grav- 
ity and calmness, with unction and earnestness, because I am convinced that 
a clear exposition obliges the pupils to meditate, and excites interest and 
animation. 

As for the historical part, I have made choice of a short exposition of 
the history of the Christian church, with an introduction on the constitution 
of the Jewish church. I think it impossible to learn any thing of universal 
history, that can be useful or instructive to the students, in less than a hand- 



8Q PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 

red lessons. It signifies little whether a village schoolmaster knowa the 
history of India, China, or Greece ; but he ought to know something of the 
history of the church, because it is, in many points, nearly connected with 
that of religion. I must confess that, in the measure of time allowed us, I 
cannot make universal history very interesting or profitable to the pupils ; 
but it is otherwise with ecclesiastical history. 

I introduce the theory of education and tuition by experimental psychol- 
ogy. This course of study is of infinite use, in teaching the science of edu- 
cation, and of tuiiion, as likewise in teaching morals and religion ; but I re- 
gard the school for practice, and the method there pursued, as the best 
course of pedagogical instruction. I have come to the conviction that, 
generally speaking, it is necessary to recommend to the pupils of the nor- 
mal schools, and to all young schoolmasters, a firm and decided plan, leav- 
ing it to thera to modify it as time and experience dictate. It is with them 
as with a traveler going to a place he has never been at before : it is best 
to show him the high road, that he may not lose himself; when he is famil- 
iar with that, he may try cross-roads, if he thinks they will abridge his jour- 
ney. The masters of the school rgree in my views on this point, and en- 
deavor to act up to them. The follov/ing are their courses of instruction in 
their several departments, furnished by themselves. 

Language :* First class, or class of the first year. — In the first half year we 
begia with the shnplest elements, and gradually go through all the parts of 
speech, but without their subdivisions. In the second half year we go 
through the subdivisions in like manner ; so that, in the first year, a thorough 
knowledge is acquired of the simple and compound elements, as well as of 
the divisions and subdivisions of speech. The course of instruction is partly 
synthetic, and partly analytic ; that is to say, what has been learned in the 
first manner, is made thoroughly clear in the second, by the analysis of a 
passage from some author. Seco'nd class, or class of the second year. — This 
class, proceeding in a similar way, goes through the most complicated peri- 
ods. In the second half year the pupils are familiarized with the most im- 
portant principles of logic and of etymology. 

Arithmetic : Second class.j — In the first half year are studied the rule of 
three, single and compound interest, and discount; in the second, the ex- 
traction of the square and cube roots, as far as equations of the first and 
second degree. The result of this course is a complete familiarity with all 
the branches of common arithmetic. These two departments of instruction, 
language and arithmetic, are taught according to the views of the inspector. 

Geometry : Second class. — In the first half year they get through what re- 
lates to rectilinear figures and the circle ; in the second, the theory of the 
transmutation of figures is added ; and after that, the most important prin- 
ciples of geometry and the measurement of solids. The books of instruc- 
tion are those of F. Schmid and Von Turck. 

Drawing : First class. — In the first half year drawing is carried as far as 
the knowledge of the most important laws of perspective, so as to place ob- 
jects, not too complex, according to the lav/s of perspective. In the second 
half year they study light and shade. Second class. — During the first half 
year the attention is directed to the relief and shading of works of art, such 
as houses, churches, vases, &c. In the second half, the pupils copy good 
drawings of landscapes, flowers, &c., with a view to familiarize them with 
the style of the best masters. The method adopted is that of F. Schmid. 

Reading : First class. — Begins by the enunciation of some simple propo- 
sitions, which are decomposed into words ; the words are reduced to sylla- 
bles, and these to their simple sound. This course has been adopted with 
the pupils, that they may themselves use it with the younger children, and 
thus acquire a familiar acquaintance with it. It is taught according to the 

• M. Wagner. t Another master takes the arithmetic for the first class or first year. 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 87 

views of the inspector. Second class. — In the first class the principal object 
is reading with ease ; in the second, reading with expression. The chief 
means of instruction consist in the master's reading aloud frequently, be- 
cause it is considered that this plan is more unfailing and more easy than 
any rules. Since, however great the application on the part of both master 
and pupil, the art of reading is at all times difficult to acquire, this branch 
of instruction occupie's a whole year. 

Singing : First class. — In the first half year they begin with easy exer- 
cises in time and melody; the next step is to easy pieces for four voices. 
The second half year is devoted to more difficult exercises of the same kind ; 
so that, by the end of the year, the pupils have acquired a tolerable facility 
in reading. 

Natural Philosophy : Second class. — During the first half year the atten- 
tion is directed to the general and particular properties of bodies ; to those 
of the elements, water, air, and fire ; then to the theory of sounds, the velo- 
city of winds, the equilibrium of fluids, and aqueous meteors. In the second 
half year comes the theory of light, electricity, the lever, the inclined plane, 
luminous meteors, optics, &c. The principal object is to render the pupils 
attentive to the most striking phenomena of nature, and to accustom them to 
reflect upon her laws and secrets. The method adopted here is that of the 
inspector. 

During half of last year my* lessons embraced the following points : — 

Mental Arithmetic. — 1, The knowledge of numbers with reference to their 
value and form ; 2, addition ; 3, subtraction ; 4, subtraction and addition 
combined ; 5, multiplication; 6, multiplication combined with the preceding 
rule ; 7, division ; 8, varied combinations of the four fundamental rules. 
Each rule was accompanied by its application, and by examples drawn from 
common life. My principal aim was to exercise the pupils in applying the 
rules to practice. I have endeavored also to draw their attention to the the- 
ory, and especially to the mode of using dif?3rent rules in the solution of the 
same problem ; with this view, I have always alternated the oral and written 
exercises. 

Arithmetic on the Slate. — Calculation on the slate is based upon mental 
arithmetic, insomuch that the latter may be considered as a preparation for 
the former. When the four first exercises in mental arithmetic are gone 
through, the pupils begin to use the slate. I have labored not only to give 
them practical dexterity, but also solid knowledge, and with this aim have 
accustomed them to try various ways of working the questions. 

Elements of Geometry. — I have followed the work of Harnisch, and hia 
theory of space drawn from the theory of crystals, and employed by him as 
a basis to the mathematics. 

Natural Histoky : Botany. — The principal parts of a plant are first 
pointed out and named ; then each of these parts are examined separately : 
— 1, the root, its form and direction; 2, the stem, its internal construction, 
its figure and its covering ; 3, the buds, their place upon the stalk ; 4, the 
leaves, their variety according to their situation, their mode of insertion, 
their figure, their place ; 5, the flower-stalks ; 6, the flowers according to 
their species, the manner in which they are fixed, their composition ; the ca- 
lyx, corolla, stamina, pistil, the fruit, seed-vessel, and sex of the plants. All 
this has been shown to the pupils, either in the plants themselves, or in 
drawings which I have traced on the slate. I interrupted the botany till we 
could take it up again after Easter, and began 

Mineralogy. — I have pursued the same course here. The pupils have first 
been familiarized with the properties which distinguish minerals one from 
another, as their colors, the arrangement of parts, the external form, regular 
and irregular, or crystalline form ; the polish, texture, transparency, vein, 

• Mr. Richter. 



g8 PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 

hardness, alteration of color, eifervescence in acids : all these properties have 
been observed by the pupils in the minerals of our collection. To this suc- 
ceeded the classification of minerals, from which the pupils have learned the 
names and uses of the most important. 

Singing. — Having devoted last year, with my singing pupils, to time, tune, 
and acoustics, I have, during the past six months, combined the three 
branches of the art of singing which I had before taught separately, and 
have practiced them chiefly on sacred vocal music, such as a psalm of Schna- 
bel's, a chorus from Handel's Messiah, a mass of Hasslinger, and another 
of Schiedermeyer, a chorus from Haydn's Creation, two songs by Von Web- 
er, &c. 

Thorough- Base* — The lessons I have given in this science have been ac- 
cording to Hering's practical introduction, or to my own ideas. The follow- 
ing course has been adopted: 1, the theory of intervals; 2, the theory of 
harmonic thirds, a. if they comprise a scale, b. if they belong to the whole 
system ; 3, the theory of the chord of the seventh, a. if it belongs to a scale, 
b. if it belongs to the whole system of chords; 4, modulation, a. in a free 
style, b. in a free style, with particular reference to the organ ; 5, written 
exercises in parts for four voices. 

Geographij. — We have finished Germany and begun Europe : the follow- 
ing course has been adopted. First we made the pupils acquainted, as ex- 
actly as possible, with the Rhenish provinces — our own peculiar country ; 
then with Prussia, then with the rest of Germany. This was done in the 
following manner: 1, the boundaries; 2, the mountains; 3, tlie rivers; 4, 
the natural divisions according tv the rivers ; 6, the towns. We then con- 
sidered Germany in its political divisions, paying attention to the position 
and natural limits of the countries. All the exercises on this subject were 
done with skeleton maps. If time permit (though only one year with two 
lessons a week are allotted to this department), Europe will be followed by 
a general review of the earth. 

Writing. — In the writing I have followed exactly the system of Hennig ; 
by giving, 1, the easiest and simplest letters of the running alphabet to be 
copied, each letter separately, till the pupil can make them with ease; 2, 
words composed of such letters as they have practiced ; 3, at the opening of 
the course, after Easter, will come the capital letters, in the same way ; 4, 
English handwriting.! ^^^ practicing single letters, I have especially pointed 
out how one was formed out of another, and the letter they were practicing 
as making part of that which followed. Afterward copies, written, not en- 
graved, are placed before the pupils, because these last, according to the 
opinion of good penmen, discourage the pupils. 

Orthography. — 1, The object and utility of orthography ; 2, general rules 
of German orthography; 3, the use of capital letters; 4, the regular use of 
isolated letters ; 6, the division, composition, and abbreviation of words. 
These rules are alternately put in practice in the dictations. The director, 
with the assistance of the masters, examines in each department every three 
months. Instrumental music, on the violin, piano-forte, and organ, is taught 
by Mr. Richter and Mr. Rudisch, with the assistance of two pupils. 

6. SCHOOL FOR PRACTICE. 

It is difficult, in a written description, to convey a just idea of a school, or 
of any large establishment for instruction. Nevertheless, I will endeavor to 
give a brief sketch of this institution, and of the manner in which the pupils 
are there occupied. The regulations fix from one to three in the afternoon 
for the lessons of practice. The children of the school for practice are di- 

• Mr. Fiidisch. 

t i. e. The Italian handwr^ing, as distinguished from the current German hand. — Transl. 



PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT BRUHL. 89 

vided into eight classes, and one of the pupils from the normal school pre- 
sides over each of these divisions alternately, so that twenty-four are occu- 
pied from one to two, and twenty-four from two to three; and while the 
first twenty-four are teaching, the others listen, that they may be ready at 
any moment to take it up and continue the lesson. This can be done only 
where u fixed and complete mode of instruction is laid down. 

The branches taught by the pupils are grammar, reading, composition, 
writing, drawing, arithmetic, mental exercises, singing, religion. Language 
is taught partly after Krause, and partly on the plan of the inspector, Mr. 
Wagner. Reading is closely connected with writing, according to the 
method of the inspector. The pupils of the higher classes have subjects of 
familiar compositions given them ; at the same time, they are made to learn 
by heart short letters, narrations and descriptions, because this is deemed 
the best method of familiarizing children with the language, and enabling 
them to express themselves with case in writing. When they have learned 
a piece by heart, they endeavor to write it without a fault, and with the 
proper punctuation ; the comparison with the original and the correction are 
left to themselves, that the thing may be more deeply impressed upon their 
mind. Arithmetic is taught on the system of Schumacher and Jos. Schmid. 
In the lower classes great care is taken that the numbers are always correct, 
in order to avoid the inefficient and too artificial mental arithmetic of Pesta- 
lozzi, and to make arithmetic itself an exercise of language. Singing is 
taught by the two forwardest pupils of the school, who give two lessons in 
the morning, and drawing by the two most skillful draughtsmen. For exer- 
cises in language and mental activity, use is occasionally made of Krause's 
Exercises for the Mind, and Pestalozzi's Moiher^s Book. On religion the 
pupils give but one lesson a week, under the particular guidance of the di- 
rector. The speci'd superintendence of this school is confided to the inspect- 
or, Mr. Wagner, who, besides a daily visit during the lessons, subjects them 
to a slight examination every week, to keep up a persevering activity in the 
young men, and to know exactly what progress is made. The satisfiiction 
of the parents at the pupils' mode of teaching is proved by the regular at- 
tendance at the school. I am well satisfied with the practical ability hith- 
erto shown by the pupils. 

7 MASTERS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT. 

Two masters, besiJes the director, were last year annexed to the estab- 
lishment — the inspector, Mr. Wagner, and Mr. Richter. The assistant mas- 
ter, Mr. Rudisch, was added at the beginning of this year. These masters 
give their entire and undivided attention to the school; yet they are not suf- 
ficient for this great establishment ; two pupils and the organist of the town 
assist in the department of instrumental music. 

Although the general superintendence rests upon the director, yet, to re- 
lieve him, one of the masters in rotation has hitherto conducted the special 
inspection eacli week. But I see every day more clearly, that the whole 
inspection ought to devolve upon the director alone ; — in a v/ell-regulated 
house there should be but one head. The other masters also recognize this 
principle ; and in the end the director will have the whole superintendence, 
and, in case of need, will transfer it to the inspector. But as the director 
and the inspector cannot be always with the pupils, and as it is nevertheless 
necessary that there should be some fixed person to refer to when disturb- 
ances or complaints occur, the established custom will be continued of ap- 
pointing the student who is deemed the best fitted as superintendent of 
his fellow-students. This plan may, besides, have a very useful effect in 
the education both of the young superintendent and of his school-fellows. 



90 



NORMAL SEMINAKY AT EISI.EBEN. 



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SEMINARY FOR TEACHERS* 

AT WEISSENFELS, 

IN PRUSSIA. 



This seminary, for the education of teachers for the elementary schools, 
is one of four belonging to the province of Saxony ,f and was last organized 
in 1822. It combines within its premises, or in the neighborhood, so as to 
be subject to the control of the same director, the following establishments: 

1. The normal school, or seminary for teachers, a government institution. 

2. A preparatory school, subsidiary to the former, and established by the 
enterprise of its teachers. 3. A seminary school, or burgher school, of four 
hundred pupils, already described. 4. An elementary school for poor chil- 
dren, of two hundred pupils. 5. A school for the deaf and dumb, of twenty- 
five pupils, established in 1828, and supported by tlie government. The last 
three mentioned scliools afford practice to the students of the seminary. 

The government of these establishments is confided to a director,^: who is 
responsible immediately to the provincial school-board in Magdeburg. He 
has the personal charge of the seminary in which he gives instruction, and of 
which he superintends the domestic economy, discipline, and police. He is 
assisted in the seminary by three teachers, who meet him once a week in 
conference, to discuss the progress and conduct of the pupils, the plans of 
instruction, and other matters relating to the school. There are also seven 
assistant teachers, five for the seminary school, and two for the deaf and 
dumb institution, who also assist in the seminary itself. Once a month 
there is a general meeting of the teachers of all the schools just enumerated, 
for similar purposes. 

AppUcants for admission are required to produce certificates of baptism, 
of moral conduct, and of health,^ besides an engagement on the part of their 
parents or guardians to pay an annual sum of fifty thalers (thirty-seven dol- 
lars) for maintenance. These papers must be forwarded to the director a 
fortnight before the day of examination. The candidates are examined at a 
stated time of the year (after Easter), in presence of all the teachers of the 
•school, and their attainments must prove satisfactory in Bible and church 
history, the Lutheran Catechism, reading, writing, German grammar, espe- 
cially the orthography of the language, the ground-rules of arithmetic (mental 
and written), geography and history, and natural history and philosophy, of 
the grade of the highest class of a burgher school. They must also be able 
to play, at sight, easy pieces' of music upon the violin. The usual age of 
admission is eighteen ; and the lowest at which they are admissible, seven- 
teen. On entrance, they are entitled to free lodging and instruction, and, if 
their conduct and progress are satisfjctory, in general, receive a yearly allow- 
ance of twenty-five dollars, which is equivalent, nearly, to the cost of their 
maintenance. Their clothing and school-books are provided by the pupils. 
The modes of preparation judged most appropriate by the authorities of the 
seminary are, the attendance on a burgher school, with private lessons from 
a competent teacher, or entrance into the preparatory establishment at Weis- 
senfels. A gymnasium is considered by no means a proper place for the 

• From Bache's Education in Europe. 

t At Magdebuis, Halberstadt, Ifrfurt, and VVeissenfels. 

j The Rev. Dr. Haniisch, to whom I am indebted for a kind welcome to his institution, and a 
MS. account of its different schools. 

§ The directions issued by the provinciil authorities are, that they shall have a stron? chest 
and sound lunj^s, not to be too near-sighted, nor deaf, nor infirm. The physician's certificate must 
State whether they have had the measles, iSic. 



Q2 SEMINARY FOR TEACHERS AT WEISSENFELS, 

preparation of pupils, its courses, discipline, and mode of life having a dif- 
ferent tendency from that required by the futui'e teacher of a common 
school. 

The admission of new pupils takes place with some ceremony, in presence 
of the teachers and pupils. The director gives a charge, in which he makes 
them, acquainted with the rules of the school, chiefly those relating to moral 
conduct, to obedience to the authorities, punctuality, regular attendance at 
study, school, church, and, in general, on the appointed exercises, due exer- 
tion, neatness in their habits, and exactness in the payment of dues to the 
tradesmen with whom they may deal. They bind themselves to serve for 
three years after leaving the school, in whatever situation may be assigned 
them by the regency of Merseburg, or to pay the cost of their education and 
maintenance. During their stay at the seminary, they are exempted from 
military service, except for six weeks. In ttict, this service usually takes 
place at leaving the school, and before entering upon their new career. The 
number of pupils, on the average, is sixty. 

The courses of instruction are, morals and religion, German, arithmetic 
and geometry, cosmology, pedagogy, terraculture, hygiene, theory and prac- 
tice of music, drawing, and writing. Cosmology is a comprehensive term 
for geography, an outline of history and biography, the elements of natural 
history and natural philosophy, all that relates to the world (earth) and its 
inhabitants. Pedagogy includes both the science and art of teaching. The 
courses just enumerated are divided among the masters, according to the 
supposed ability of each in the particular branches, the whole instruction 
being given by the four teachers. The director, as is customary in these 
schools, takes the religious instruction, and the science and art of teaching, 
as his especial province, and adds lectures on the theory of farming and gar- 
dening (terraculture), and of health. 

The duration of the course of studies has been reduced from three years 
to two, on account, as is alleged, of the necessity for a more abundant sup- 
ply of teachers! There are, probably, other reasons, such as the exjiense, 
and the fear of over-educating the pupils for their station, which have been 
influential in bringing about this reduction. There are two classes corre- 
sponding to the two years of study. The first year is devoted entirely to re- 
ceiving instruction; and in the second, practice in teaching is combined with 
it. In the preparatory school there is likewise a course of two years, and 
the pupils are divided into two classes. This establishment is in a building 
near the seminary, which can accommodate forty pupils, and is under the 
special charge of one of the teachers.* 

The outline of the studies in the two schools is as follows : 

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 
PEEPAEATOEY SCHOOL. 

II Class. Bible stories, which the pupils must be able to narrate ■with propriety. 
Christian doctrine. Portions of Scripture committed to memory. Pour hours 
weekly. 

I Class. Eeading the Bible, especially the historical parts. Krummacher's Bible 
Catechism. Christian doctrine. Parables of the New Testament. Seven hours. 

In the lectures on Christian doctrine, which the two classes of the normal 
school attend together, the director gives a portion of Scripture to be com- 
mitted to memory, explains and illustrates it, and interrogates the pupils, 
who take notes of the lecture, which they subsequently write out. 

NOEMAL SCHOOL. 

II Class. Reading the Bible, particularly the historical parts ; writing catechet- 
ical exercises, adapted to children. Two hours. 

• The payments made by the pupils are, per annum, for instruction, nine dollars ; for dinner, 
bread not incUided, thirteen doUars and fifty cents; lodging, three dollars ; waiting and nursing io 
time of sickness, one doll;* and seventy-five cents ; use of libraiy, fifty cents. 



SExMINARY FOR TEACHERS AT WEISSENFELS. gg 

I Class. Continuation of the second class com-se. Two hours. 

I and II Class. Christian doctrine, from Luther's Catechism. Three hours. 
History of the different dispensations. Two hours. A course of two years. 

The course of church history is taught, also, by the mixed method of lec- 
ture and interrogation, to both classes united. 

GERMAN LANGUAGE. 
PEEPAEATOET SCHOOL. 

II Class. Exercises of speech in reading and delivery. Descriptions and essays 
on subjects drawn from common life. Grammar. Writing, as an exercise in cal- 
ligrapliy and orthography. Nine hours. 

"l Class. Eeading, with explanations. Composition. Grammar revised. Writ- 
ing, as in the second class. Nine hours. 

noemjVI. school. 
II Class. Eeading, with explanations. Writing, as an exercise of calligraphy and 
orthography. Exercises of stj'le. A composition once every month. Essays from 
history, geography, or natural history. Grammar revised. Eight hours. 

I Class". Poetry, with readings. Calligraphy. Exercises of style. Grammar re- 
vised. National literature. Seven hours. 

The first and second classes are united for a portion of instruction in this depart- 
ment, intended to rid them of provincialisms of speech, and to improve their hand- 
writing. Three hours. 

MATHEMATICS. 

PEEPAEATOET SCHOOL. 

II Class. Arithmetic, including the Eule of Three. Three hours. 

I Class. Arithmetic, revised and extended. Use of compass and ruler. Four 
hours. 

NORMAL SCHOOL. 

II Class. Geometry, commenced. Four hours. 

I Class. Eevision of previous studies. Geometry, continued. Two hours. 

The method of teaching mathematics is that of Pestalozzi ; and director 
Harnisch has himself prepared a work on geometry for his pupils. The ap- 
plications are made to follow the principles closely. As in the other coui-ses, 
the greater part of the learning is done in the school-room, the books being 
used rather for reference than for preparation. In the lessons which I at- 
tended in this department, much skill was displayed by the instructors, and 
a very considerable degree of intelligence by the pupils. Considering it as 
the means of developing the reasoning powers, this method is very far supe- 
rior to that in which the propositions are learned from books. To exem- 
plify the method of Dr. Harnisch, I may state the following case of a recita- 
tion in geometry by the second class. The equality of two triangles, when 
the two sides and the angle contained betv^'een them in one are equal re- 
spectively to the two sides and the contained angle in the other, had been 
shown by the teacher, and the demonstration repeated by the pupils, who 
were interrogated closely upon it. An application of the theorem was at 
once required, to determining the distance between two points, one of which 
is inaccessible. Tvv'o of the class found the solution immediately, and all 
were able to take part in the subsequent discussion of the problem. 

COSMOLOGY (WELTKUNDE). 
PEEPAEATOET SCHOOL. 

II Class. Elements of botany and zoology. Excursions for practical instruction 
in the former. Four hours. 

I Class. Geography and the drawing of maps. Elements of physics and tech- 
nology. Biography. Three hours. 

NOEMAL SCHOOL. 

II Class. Eevision of the above studies. Three hours. 

I and II Classes united. General views of the earth and its productions and in- 
habitants. One hour weekly for one year. Gardening and hygiene (Gesundheita- 
kunde). Two hours weeMy for two years. 



94 SEJjJNARY FOR TEACHERS AT WEISSENFELS. 

The lechires in the normal school on these subjects are by the director. 
The means of illustration in physics are small, and the whole course is 
chiefly intended to show the future teachers how wide a range of knowledge 
may be opened to them by study. The natural history is illustrated, for the 
most part, by drawings. To render the seminarists more useful in their 
situation of country schoolmasters, which a large proportion of the pupils 
become^ they have lectures on the principles of agriculture and gardening, 
and also practical lessons from the gardener, who has charge of the grounds. 
The pupils work during the appropriate season every day in turn, under the 
direciion of the gcxrdener. Good manuals, conveying correct but elementary 
instruction on these matters, are much wanted. They should, peihaps, be 
prepared by a teacher, but by no means allowed to go into use without re- 
vision by persons specially acquainted with the different branches of science 
thus grouped together. This revision would insure the accuracy which, 
though difficult to attain, is so necessary ; the more so in conveying such 
elements, as there is no collateral knowledge to correct or modify error as to 
tact or theory. 

SCIENCE AND ART OF TEACHING. „ 

TREPAKATOKT SCHOOL. 

The first class rcceiye shnplc directions for keeping scliool, and lessons on teach- 
ing. Tiiey attend in turn the classes of the seminary- schools two hours weekly, but 
take no part in teaching. 

NORMAI. SCHOOL. 

II Class. Lessons on teaching, three hours. Visits to the schools, tliree lioura. 

I Class. Lessons on the art of teaching, three hours. Visits to the schools, five 
hours. Lessons on the instruction of tlie deaf and dumb, by the director of that 
department, one hour. 

1 and II Classes united. Science of teaching, two hours. 

The director delivers the course on the science of teaching, which in these 
schools is considered of the highest importance, and also gives a portion of 
the lessons in the art of teaching to the first class. 

The theoretical instruction ia the science and art of teaching enibr.aces 
two courses, each of a year ; the first being devoted chiefly to cduca>,tion in 
general, the second to instruction and the arrangements of tlie school.* The 
director remarks of this course, that the pupils learn by it to say a good deal 
upon these subjects, and someiimes believe that they can easily execute 
what they can so readily describe ; an opinion of which practice can alone 
show the error, and which it is essential should be removed. The general 
theory of education is founded upon the constilution of man, and, under the 
head of instruction, the methods of teaching the various branches are de- 
scribed. The practice v/hich must render this theory of real use is had in 
part in the schools. The pupils attend the free school, the burgher school, 
and the deaf and dumb school, at stated times. They go at first as listen- 
ers, next take part in the instruction, under direction of the assist.ant teach- 
ers, and lastly instruct the classes. In order that they may have models of 
teaching, not only in the assistants, but in the teachers of the seminary 
themselves, the latter give lessons occasionally in the different schools. 
Thus tlie director teaches one hour per week in the seminary school, the 
second teacher two hours, and the third and fourth teachers four hours. 
The lower class attend the several classes of the burgher school, except the 
highest girls' class, remaining, in general, one-fifth of the lime in each class 
except the lowest, where they remain double this time, and visiting each 

• Harnisch's Jlanual of Common School Matters (Handbuch des VoIIis-schulweaens) is used as 
« text-book. 

A more common division of the course is into pedagogics, or the principles of education and 
instruction. IVIethodics, or the art of leaching tlie system or methods of education, to wliich a 
third division is sometimes added, called didactics, v/hich relates to the subjects of education, 
(Schwai'z Erzichuu^ und Unterrichts lehre). 



SEMINARY FOR TEACHERS AT WEISSENPELS. 95 

class twice at intervals. The upper class attend also the girls' class, the 
deaf and dumb school, and the free school, remaining one-eighth of their 
time in each of the classes. Each member of the lower class keeps a jour- 
nal of his visits to the schools, which is inspected by the second teacher. 
Each of the first class draws up a report of his occupation and observations 
in the schools, which is reviewed by the assistant teacher of the class to 
which it refers, and is then examined by the second teacher and by the di- 
rector. The several assistant teachers make reports upon the qualifications 
of the seminarists who have given instruction in their classes. By these ar- 
rangements, a pupil who has the mental qualities essential to a teacher can- 
not fail to become well versed in the practice of his profession. Habits of 
observation are inculcated, which must be of great service to him in his prac- 
tice, enabling him to adapt himself to tlie circumstances in which he is 
placed, and to profit by the experience of every day. 

To exemplify the principles and methods, a small number of the children 
from the seminary school arc brought into the class-room of the seminary, 
and are examined upon a given subject by some of the pupils. The class 
present and the director make their notes on these examinations, and the 
exercise terminates by an examination of the children by the director him- 
self, as an exemplification of his views, and that they may not receive injury 
from being lefc in a half or ill-informed state on the subjects of tlie lesson. 
The children having retired, the different members of the class make their 
criticisms, vi'^hich are accepted or shown to be erroneous by the director, a 
conference or discussion being kept up until the subject is exhausted. The 
character of each exercise is marked by the director, who is thus enabled to 
judge of the progress made by every member of the class, and to encourage 
or admonish privately, according to circumstances. 

The lectures given by the head master of the school for the deaf and dumb 
are also accompanied by practice, a certain number of pupils being detained 
every day for that purpose. The basis of the method is the idea that it is 
possible to restore the deaf mute to society, by e;iabling him to understand 
epoken langua.ge from the motion of the lips, and to speak intelligibly by 
mechanical rules. It is hoped ultimately, by training every schoolmaster in 
this method, that the mute may be instructed in schools with other children, 
and thus not be required to sunder ties of kindred during a long absence 
from home. The pupils of the deaf and dumb institution do not live in the 
establishment, but are boarded with tradesmen of the town of Weissenfels. 
The object i-^ to induce the practice of the lessons out of school, the pupils 
being enjoined to avoid the use of signs. The first lesson is one in articuhx- 
tion. The principle of this instruction is now dominant in Germany, but up 
to this time the system has not been fairly tried by its results. The indomi- 
table perseverance of the masters of the principal schools which I visited 
struck me with admiration ; but I was not convinced that what they aimed 
id was practicable, at least to the extent which their principle asserts. The 
attempt deserves, however, the best encouragement. 

DRAWING. 

PF.EPAR.VTORY SCHOOL. 

The two classes uuitcd for geometrical and perspective drawiugf, 

NORMAL SCHOOL. 

The same course continued. 

MUSIC. 
PREPARATORY SCHOOL, 

The two classes united for instruction in tlic elements of music. Choral singing. 
Instruction is given on the piano and organ to the pupils, divided into four aoc- 
tions. They are also taught the violin. 

NORMAL SCHOOL. 

The instruction, as just stated, is continued. Theory of music. Composition. 



96 SEMINARY FOR TEACHERS AT WEISSENPELS. 

The violin is taught, as the means of leading the exercises in singing in 
the elementary schools. The piano serves as an introduction to the organ, 
a knovi'ledge of which is important to the Prussian schoolmaster, as enabling 
him to act as organist in the church of the parish where his school may be 
situated. So high a value is placed upon an elementary knowledge in vocal 
music, that an ability to give instruction in it is indispensable to admission 
into the class of teachers. It is not, therefore, surprising that the pupils of 
the seminaries, in general, are proficients in music. I confess, however, that 
I was not prepared for the advance in the theory and practice to which many 
of the first class in this school had attained. In regard to the former, I was 
present at one of the exercises in composition, in which the teacher* read, 
and the pupils transcribed, three stanzas of poetry, This done, they were 
required to compose an air adapted to the words. In less than ten minutes, 
a fifth of the class were ready. The teacher took his station at a black- 
board, on which the ledger lines were drawn, and one of the pupils whom he 
designated began to sing the words to the air wliich he had composed, the 
teacher writing the music meanwhile. This air was pronounced not to be 
original. A second was tried, which the teacher thought an imitation. A 
third and fourth he accepted, and wrote upon the board. They were criti- 
cised by both the class and teacher, set to parts by the former, and sung. 
The two classes were in the next hour united for choral singing, in which 
many are proficient, the teacher leading at the organ. 

The course of drawing is limited in extent, the object being chiefly to give 
opportunities to those pupils who have a taste for drawing to cultivate it. 
In fact, as it tends to divert attention from more important matters, which 
the short time spent at the seminary requires entire devotion to, it is not 
much encouraged. 

The four teachers attached to the normal school have charge of specific 
departments of labor, as well as of particular implements of instruction. 
The director has the general superintendence of the instruction, discipline, 
household arrangements, and finance, and is librarian of their small collec- 
tion. The second teacher has charge of one of the schools, of the musical 
exercises, books, and instruments ; a third, of the students when assembled, 
especially in the school-house, and of the drawings, copy-slips for writing, 
and maps. The fourth superintends the pupils while in the dwelling-house, 
and also at meals. These teachers are aided in their duties by younger ones 
attached to the seminary, under the title of assistant teachers. The dining- 
hall, or the recitation-rooms, serve as places of study, according as the pupils 
are in the school-house or in the dwelling, the two buildings being separated 
by a portion of the grounds. The chapel, which is a neat room connected 
with the school-house, serves for the music-room, as well as for the religious 
exercises. . 

The order of the day in the normal school will serve to show how con- 
stantly these young men are employed in preparing for the duties of their 
arduous profession, and yet they appeared to me always cheerful in the per- 
formance of their self-imposed task. In winter, the pupils rise at five, and, 
after washing and dressing, have a brief religious exercise, and study until 
breakfast, which is at seven o'clock. Until eight there is recreation. From 
eight until twelve they are in school, engaged in recitation, listening to lec- 
tures, or teaching. From twelve until one they have dinner and recreation. 
From one until five they are again in school. From five until seven or half 
past seven, in summer, there is recreation, or excursions are made with a 
teacher, and then study until nine. In winter, there is recreation until six, from 
six to eidit study, and from eight to nine musical exercises, one-third playing 
on the violin, another on the organ or piano, and another singing. At half 
past nine in winter, and ten in summer, the pupils retire. There are prayers 

* Mr. Henschel. 



SEMINARY FOR TEACHERS AT WEk-SENFELS. 9*7 

morning and evening. On Wednesday and Saturday they have half of the 
day for recreation, and in summer make excursions to collect plants or min- 
erals. A place for gymnastic exercises is provided, and used during the 
hours of i-ecreation. 

The moral education of these young men is closely attended to. They 
not only receive direct religious instruction, but the best examples are con- 
stantly before them. The chief reward for proficiency or good conduct is 
the approbation of the teachers ; the principal punishment, short of dismis- 
sion, their disapprobation. The director has, also, the influence, resulting 
, from his power, to give pecuniary assistance to the meritorious while in the 
school, and to secure them good places at leaving it. The greatest harmony 
reigns throughout the establishment. On the evenings of Saturday, there 
are frequently parties in turn among the teachers, to which the pupils are in- 
vited, and where there is usually music. Those who have acquaintances in 
the town are encouraged to visit their families, but the places of visiting 
must be known to the director. 

Physical education is most essential where young men, at the time of life 
of these seminarists, are sedulously engaged in intellectual pursuits, and 
necessarily so much confined to the house. They, therefore, have gymnas- 
tic exercises or work in the fields or garden, or walk during those periods 
of the day and parts of the week allowed for recreation. Care is taken that, 
unless indisposed, they do not remain in the house at those times, when the 
weather permits them to be in the open air. There is an infirmary for the 
sick, in which one of the pupils in turn acts as nurse, and a physician is 
called in when necessary. 

The school year is divided into three terms, the first from the beginning of 
June until August, the second from September to Christmas, and the third 
from January to May. The holidays are four weeks in August, two at 
Christmas, and one at Easter. During the first two named, the pupils go 
home to their friends. Christmas is celebrated in the school, and at the 
close of the first and second terms there are private examinations, the results 
of which are communicated to the students. At the close of tlie third term, 
the examination for passing from the second to the first class is held, and 
none are promoted from one class to another unless fully proficient in the 
courses of the past year. At the end of the second year, they are examined 
upon the whole range of study, and in composition and orthography. Those 
who pass satisfectorily receive a diploma, and find no difficulty in obtaining 
employment as teachers. Some of the most promising are frequently re- 
tained in the schools of the institution as assistant teachers, under the ap- 
pointment of the director. The additional experience thus gained is of im- 
portance in a professional, and ultimately in a pecuniary point of view. 

Every pupil, on leaving the school with a diploma, makes a drawing, or 
copies a piece of music or of writing, which he leaves as a memento. 

The pupils of all the normal schools are bound by law to serve in such 
situations as may be assigned to them for three years, or to pay certain sums 
in lieu of this service. 

The domestic economy is superintended by the director, who has a house- 
keeper under his orders. Dinner is provided at a common table, but each 
person furnishes himself with breakfast and supper. The diet is of the 
plainest kind, but there is meat for dinner every day in the week except 
two.* The police of the establishment is attended to by the pupils them- 
selves. The members of the second class, in turn, have charge of the police 
of the school-rooms, dormitories, of the lamps, of ringing the bell, &c. ; or 
these duties are executed by those who have fallen under censure. The 
first class superintend the fires and out-of-door work, have charge of the 

* The dinner costs seven dollars and fifty cents per annum, or about two cents and a 
half per day. If a pupil receives no stipend from the institution, he is charged but half this 
sum. 



gg SEMINARY FOR TEACHERS AT WEISSENFELS. 

cellar, store-room, lavatory, &c. There are three dormitories, under the 
general superintendence of one of the teachers, aided by pupils selected for 
the purpose. The bed and bedding are furnished by the pupils at entrance. 
The lodging of these youths is, like their fare and clothing, of the plainest 
sort — a plainness which puts in strong relief the richness of the moral and 
intellectual culture afforded by the institution.* 

* The yearly cost of this institution is but about twenty-eight hundred and forty dollars. The 
director receives a salary of six hundred dollars, which enables him to live very comfortably, and 
to maintain bis proper station, on a par with the burgher authorities, the clergyman, district 
judge, &c. 



SEMINARY 

FOE 

TEACHERS OF THE CITY SCHOOLS* 
AT BERLIN, IN PRUSSIA. 



This is one of the more recently erected seminaries, and its objects are 
declared to be — first, to educate teachers for the city schools ; second, to 
enable teachers to advance in their vocation, by providing them with lec- 
tures, and with a library ; and third, to enable candidates for the ministry to 
become somewhat acquainted with the art of teaching, as they are required, 
subsequently, to act as inspectors of the schools. The first of these is the 
main object of the institution. The teachers to be furnished are, in general, of 
the grade required for the burgher schools. This, with its location in the 
city, renders the general plan of this school different from that already de- 
scribed. The care taken in the selection of the directors of the normal 
schools prevents the necessity for minute regulations, and does what no 
regulation can — namely, infuses the proper spirit. Hence, there will always 
be found differences in the minute details of these institutions, which may 
not, however, be essential. 

The director of this seminaryf is also the head of the school of practice 
attached to it, and already described. There are, besides him, eight teachers 
for both the school and seminary. The pupils of the latter are about fifty 
in number. 

The pupils generally live out of the seminary, there being accommoda- 
tions but for sixteen or eighteen within the buildings. It is an important 
question whether the method of boarding the pupils in or out of the house 
shall be adopted in these institutions, and I believe that it has been rightly 
solved, both at Weissenfels and here, adopting in the former school the 
method of collecting the pupils, and in the latter, of allowing them to dwell 
apart. 

The conditions for admission are nearly those, as to certificates, age, and 
qualification, of the Weissenfels school, taking as the standard of qualifica- 
tion the attainments of pupils from the preparatory department. Thus, 
eighteen years is the general age of admission, and the applicants must pre- 
sent to the school-board of the province certificates of baptism, of having 
attended the first communion, of having attended school, of moral conduct, 
of good health, and that their parents or guardians will support them while 
at the seminary. The candidates are expected to be prepared for examina- 
tion on the principal parts of the Bible and the chief truths of Christianity, 
and to be acquainted with some of the principal church songs; to express 
themselves correctly in words and in writing, and to have a good knowledge 
of the etymology of the German language ; to understand the ground rules 
of arithmetic, proportions, and fractions, and the elements of form in geom- 
etry ; to possess a competent knowledge of geography and history ; to know 
the use of mathematical instruments, and to have an elementary knowledge 
of music. The school does not professedly maintain any pupil while receiv- 
ing instruction, but assists some of those of the second year who are meri- 
torious, and makes a further advance to those of the third year who have 
shown themselves worthy of their calling.^ 

• From Bacbe's Education in Europe. 

•f- Dr. Diesterweg. 

X This may amount to sixty dollars yearly. The boarders at the school pay but three dollars 
and thirty-seven cents per quarter for their lodging. An entrance fee of twelve dollars is paid, 
which exempts the pupil from further charges for instruction. 



100 



SEMINARY FOR CITY TEACHERS AT BERLIN. 



The courses are of three years' duration, of which the first is entirely oc- 
cupied with revising and extending the attainments of the pupil ; the second 
is, in part, devoted to teaching, but under the inspection of the director ; and 
the third is mainly filled up with teaching in the school attached to the semi- 
nary, or others of the city. This arrangement is intended, first, to secure a 
due amount of scholarship on the part of the pupils ; and next, to make 
practical teachers of them. The first essays hi their art are. made under 
close supervision ; and subsequently, the independent teaching affords them 
opportunities for comparing the theoretical principles which are inculcated 
in the lectures at the seminary with their daily observation ; and the com- 
munication of their remarks in meetings with the director gives them the 
advantage of his experience in guiding their observation. 

The scope of the instruction here does not differ essentially from that at 
Weissenfels, the subjects being reproduced in a different form. The follow- 
ing table gives the names of the branches, with the time occupied in each of 
the classes, the third class being the lowest. The course of each class is a 
year in duration. 

The hours of duty are from seven in the morning until noon, and from 
two in the afternoon until four for the second and third classes, with few ex- 
ceptions. The first class receive their instruction from half past five until 
half past seven in the evening, except on Wednesday and Saturday. Wed- 
nesday is a half-holiday for the lower classes, as well as Saturday. 

The religious instruction is given by a clergyman. The physical educa- 
tion is left much to the discretion of the young men, at least in case of those 
who live out of the seminary. The school is deficient, as the one already 
described, in the means of illustrating the courses of natural philosophy and 
natural history, but the pupils may have access to the natural history collec- 
tions of the university, 

TABLE OF THE DISTKIBUTION OF TIME AMONG THE DIFFERENT EMPLOYMENTS 
AT THE BERLIN SEMINARY. 



Subjects of study, &c. 



Pedagogy 

Practice 

Religious Instruction. 

Theory of Music 

Vocal Music 

German Language..., 

Reading 

Arithmetic 

Geometry 

Geography 

History 

Zoology 

Mineralogy 

Pliysics 

Drawing 

Writing 

Playing the Violin... 



HOURS PER WEEK. 


First 


Second 


Third 


Class. 


Class. 


Class. 


2 






1 


4 




1 


2 


3 




1 


1 


1 


3 


5 




2 


6 




2 


2 




3 


4 




2 


2 




1 


2 




1 


2 




2 


2 




2 


2 




2 


2 


2 


2 


2 




1 


2 




3 


3 



The method of instruction, as in the other school, is mainly by lecture, 
with interrogations. The inductive system is followed in the mathematical 
branches. The works of the director on these subjects enjoy a high reputa- 



SEMINARY SCHOOL OP BERLIN, 101 

tion, and are in use in many of the schools. The exercise called " practice," 
in the duty of the first class, is that which I have already described, where 
the pupil gives instruction under the eye of his class-mates and of the di- 
rector, and this instruction is made the matter of subsequent criticism. Here 
the seminarists themselves act as pupils, receiving supposed lessons from 
one of their class ; while at Weissenfels, pupils from the seminary class are 
called in. This latter plan appears to me to have great advantages over 
the one adopted here, which, however, is used, I believe, only in the case of 
the first class, who receive lessons at times when the schools are not in 
session. 



SEMINARY SCHOOL OF BERLIN, 

The following account of the City Burgher School attached to the Teach- 
ers' Seminary, is taken, with a few omissions, from Bache's Report on Edu' 
cation in Europe, 

This is a bm-gher or middle school, founded in 1832, and attached to the 
Teachers' Seminary of Berlin * taking its name from this connection. The school 
is for boys only, and, like other higher burgher schools, it serves to prepare for the 
third class of a gymnasium, as Well as for entrance into active life. The same 
teachers give instruction in this school and in the seminary, being assisted here 
by the pupils of the seminary, to whom this serves as a school of practice. 
There are four regular teachers, besides the dkector, and also masters for draw- 
ing and singing. 

The pupils are admitted as early as five and six years of age. The time of 
year for general admission is Easter. There are six classes in the school, the 
lower four of which each retain tlie pupil, if industrious and intelligent, a year, 
"and the two upper, each two years. The whole course thus lasts eight years. 
Fifteen is, liowever, the usual age at which those who do not pass to the gym- 
nasium leave the school. The average number of pupils in each class is thirty.f 

Every month there is a private examination, in presence of all the teachers, 
at which the parents may attend. Every three months the pupil receives a note 
of progress and conduct, to be handed to his parents. Formerly a printed circu- 
lar was sent, containing information in the form of an abstract from the account 
kept of recitations and conduct. It has been found, however, much more effect" 
ual to give a written statement of the character of the pupil, derived from the 
school journal, inasmuch as it insures more certainly the attention of parents. At 
Easter, a public examination is held, and those who have made a proper pro- 
ficiency in their studies are passed to a higher class. 

Arrangements exist by which those pupils whose parents desire it, may study 
under the superintendence of a teacher, J during the time considered necessary for 
the preparation of the lessons of their class. The following division of the 
studies of the school is made by the director. 

1. Religious Instruction.— Bible histoi-y. History of the Church and of the Reformation. 
Protestant Catechism. 

2. Languaoes.— (rt) German. Fluency in reading, and readiness in answering questions. 
Capability of writing an exercise upon an oidinary subject. Grammar of the language. (A) 
Latin. Orthography, etymology, and the elements of syntax. Translation of an easy Latin 
author (Cornelius Nepos) into German, or of an easy German author into Latin, (c) French, 
Knowledge of the Grammar. Facility in the translation of easy authors, and in writing composi- 
tions. 

3. Sciences.— (n) Arithmetic. Mental and written. Positive and negative quantities. Invo- 
lution and evolution. (4) Geometry. Plane geometry, with practical applications, (c) Natural 
History. Knowledge of the most important minerals and plants of the neighborhood. General 

* Of which Dr. Diesterweg is director. 

t The school fees for the four lower classes are three dollars and seventy-five cents per quarter, 
and for the two higher classes four dollars and fifty cents per quarter, besides a charge of one dol- 
lar twelve and a half cents for fuel during the winter. 

J The fee for private study is four dollai's and fifty cents per quarter. 



2Q2 SEMINARY SCHOOL OF BERUN. 

outline of zoolo^ and anthropology, (d) Geography, physical and mathematical, (e) History. 
Outlines of universal history. History of the country. 

4. Mechanical Acquirkments.— (a) Reading, (i) A good handwriting, (c) Draughts of 
models, furniture, &c. {d) Singing. 

It will be found, subsequently, that I have taken reading out of this class, and 
placed it beside the German language, to which it is subsidiary, and where it is 
classed in the preceding school. 

In regard to the methods of carrying out this course, the following rules are 
laid down, and after carefully visiting the school, I can testify that they are fully 
observed. Indeed, this is one of the most interesting establishments which I 
saw, from the liveliness and activity which prevails in its classes. 

The principle of induction is used, as far as practicable, m all branches ; thus, in 
the earlier exercises, an object is presented to the pupil, who is led to notice its 
peculiarities, and to express his conceptions of tliem. He passes from objects 
which are known, and even familiar, to the unknown. Unknown objects are 
illustrated, if possible, by models, and the names of the parts are taught, and 
their uses or properties examined. The pupil proceeds first from particulars to 
generals. Subsequently, the order is reversed. He is made to understand 
whatever he is required to remember ; to find out for himself, if possible, rather 
than to be taught directly. 

Historical and similar subjects are taught by lecture, mingled with questions. 
The pupil is led to express himself readily and correctly ; the teacher speaks no 
more, therefore, than is absolutely necessary for explanation, or to induce suita- 
ble answers. Self-exertion, on the part of the pupil, is constantly encouraged. 
He is taught to observe whatever is interesting. Imitation of what is seen, and 
repetition of what is heard, lead to original thought. This, however, is to be 
expected only from pupils of taletit, and hence the teacher must be satisfied to 
allow some to learn what others have found out. The common mistakes of over- 
burdening the mind with positive knowledge, and of too much system in teach- 
ing, are to be avoided, as both are injurious to mental development. The teacher 
must be able to make his subject interesting, and, therefore, should know how to 
communicate it without a book, and to elicit the knowledge of his pupil by proper 
questions. It is the mental activity of the pupil which will determine the meas- 
ure of his success in after life ; and hence this activity, rather than positive 
knowledge, should be looked to as the object of the instruction at school. 

In regard to this last-named principle, although I consider it applicable, in a 
great degree, in elementary education, yet it appears to me that exception must 
be made of the cases of pupils who intend to enter active life on leaving the 
school, and to whom, therefore, the knowledge which they will have immediate 
occasion to use, should be imparted, to render their education efi'ective. In 
general, where the mind may be cultivated by different studies, choice should be 
made of those most likely to be applied by the individual in his future career, 
especially if his educatiou is necessarily to terminate before he can have time to 
master the complete circle. 

Religious Instruction. 
Clii89 VI. Four hours per week. Narration by the teacher of stories from the Old Testament, in 

the words of the Bible, repeated by the pupils. E;isy verses learned by heart. 
Class V. Four hours. Stories from tlie gospels, except the latter portion of the Life of Christ. 

Churcli sonf;s and Bible verses learned. 
Class IV. Three hours. The Old Testament in a more connected form. The morid of the history 

is impressed upon the children. The Ten Commandments and church songs com- 
mitted to memory. 
Clas.s III. Two hours. The life and doctrines of Christ, to the period of his imprisonment. 

Church history. Four weeks arc set apart for learning the geography of Palestine. 
Class II. Two hours. The Protestant catechism committed to memory and explained. Church 

songs and verses committed. 
Class I. Two hours. A compendium of the history of the Christian Church, particularly after the 

apostolic !ige. Histoiy ol the Reformation. Review of tlie Bible. Committing Ui 

memory psalms and hymns, continued. 

German Lanouaqe. 
Class VI. Four hours. Exercises of speech. Stories narrated to the children and repeated by 

them. After learning to write, these stories are written upon the slate. 
Class V. Four hours. Exercises in orthography. Etymology begun. 
Class IV. Four hours. Exercises in orthography and style. Every week a short compoeition is 

written on some subject which has bean narrated. 



SEMINARY SCHOOL OF BERLIN. IO3 

Class III. Grammar continued. 

Class IL Four hours. Original compositions, which are corrected during the recitations. Syntax 
commenced. 

Class I. Three hours. Compositions on historical subjects. Essays written at home, and cor- 
rected in the class-room. Syntax continued. 

Latin Lanquaoe. 

Class IV. Three hours. Declensions of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns learned. Examples 
learned by heart, and others written as an exercise at home. Auxiliary verbs con- 
jugated. 

Class III. Four hours. Comparison of adjectives. Regular verbs conjugated. 

Class II. Four hours. Irregular verbs. Syntax begun. Translation from Latin into German. 

Class I. Six hours. Grammar continued. Written exei'cises at home and in the class. Every 
four weeks an extempore exercise is written, which the teachers correct out of school 
hours. Cornelius Nepos read and construed. 

French Lanouaoe, 
Class ni. Three hours. Exercises in reading. Elements of gi-ammar. Words learned by heart. 

Easy exercises written at home and in school hours. 
Class II. Four hours. Regular and irregular verbs learned. Syntax. Translations from French 

into German. Words leai-ned by rote. 
Class I. Four hours. Written exercises of increased difficulty. Tables dictated and learned by 

heart. Voltaire's Charles XII. read. 

Arithmetic. 

Class VI. Four hours. Practical arithmetic. The futidamental operations taught with numbers 
from one to one hundred ; first mentally, then with blocks, and afterward with 
figures. Exercises prepared at home twice a week. 

Class V. Four hours. The four ground rules continued, with numbers as high as one thousand. 
Exercises in reading and writing large numbers. iVIental arithmetic especially prac- 
ticed. Addition and subtraction of absti-act numbers. 

Class IV. Four hours. Addition and subtraction revised. Multiplication and division of abstract 
numbers. Weights and measures explained. 

Class III. Four houre. The lour ground rules, with fractions. 

Class II. Three hours. Revision of the above. Rule of three. 

Class I. Three hours. In the first year practical arithmetic finishecU Proportions and decimal 
fractions. Elements of algebra. iVlental algebra. 

Geometrt. 

Class IV. Two hours. Tlie essential preparatory exercises in form, in connection with drawing. 
Rudiments explained. 

Class III. Two hours. Practice in the position of points, drawing of lines, angles, plane figures, 
representations of solids. 

Class II. Two houre. Elements of geometry proper, the point, line, angles, triangles, and meas- 
ures of straight lines, surfaces, and contents. 

Class I. Two hours. Plane geometry completed, with practical exercises. Every alternate six 
months lessons in physics are given. 

Natural History. 
Class II. Two hours. In the summer term, study of certain classes of plants. In the winter term, 

of animals. The subject is illustrated by drawings. 
Class I. Two hours. Systematic botany during the winter term, and zoology and mineralogy 

during the winter. 

GZOORAPHY. 

Class III. Two hours. Knowledge of home. Berlin and its environs. Regency of Potsdam. 
Province of Brandenburgh. Necessary technical terms explained, as horizontal, ver- 
tical, &c. 

Class II. Two hours. Geography of Prussia and Germany. 

Class I. Two hours. General geograpliy, particularly Europe and America. Asia more generally. 
Africa and Australia very briefly. 

IIlSTORir. 

Class n. Two hours. View of universal history, biographical rather than chronological. 

Class L Two hours. Firatyear universal history completed. Secondyear the history of Germany, 

and particularly of Prussia. The most important inventions and discoveries are 

noticed in connection with the history of these countries. 

Reading. 
Class VI. Seven hours. Reading by the phonic (lautir) method. Analysis of words in regard to 

division into syllables and sounds. 
Class V. Seven hours. Mechanical reading continued, but with reference to the meaning of the 

words. The pupils are examined upon words, sentences, and paragraphs. 
Class IV. Four hours. Explanatory reading continued. Accentuation. No piece is allowed to 

be read without its being understood. 
Class III. Twohoui's. Rythmical reading begun. Interesting portions of the matter read, nar- 

rated by the pupils in their own words. 
Class II. Two hours. Rythmical reading continued. 
Oaes L Two hours. Reading of some of the German claries. Analysis of the subject read. 



104: SEMINARY SCHOOL OF BERLIN. 

Writing. 
Class VI. Five hours. Introductory exercises of drawing upon liie slate. Copying the Sitlall let* 

ters from the blackboafd. Writing on paper. Capital letters. Written exercises at 

home twice a week. 
Class V. Five hours. Writing of Gennan characters continued. Roman letters begun. Copying 

from a book at home, with special reference to orthography. 
Class IV. Four hours. Writing in German and Roman characters continued. Two hours copy 

ing from copy-slips. Two hours writing from dictation. 
Class III. Three hours. Exercises of Class IV. continued. Pupils who write well are allowed to 

write without lines. Writing without copies, according to progress. 
Class II. Two hours. Exercises continued. Moat of the pupils write without lines, or by direct* 

ing points merely. 
Class I. The written exercises in other departments are examined, to ascertain the character of 

the handwriting. No special lessons are given. 

Drawing. 
Class IV. Two hours. Drawing straight lines in various directions and of various lengths. Mak' 

ing ilelinite angles. Drawing triangles, squares, and other rectilinear figures. 
Class III. Two hours. Drawing of circles and ovals. 
Class II. Two hours. Drawing of bodies bounded by planes and straight lines in pefspectire. 

Drawing of curves. 
Class I. Drawing Irom natural objects, from plaster casts, and models. 

Singing. 
Class IV. Two hours suffice to learn fifteen or twenty songs, of one or two verses, by note, and 

some ten choral songs. 
Class III. Two hours. Songs witli two parts continued. Chorals with one voice. 
Class II. Two hours. Songs with two or three voices continued. 
Class I. Two hours. Songs and chorals with three or lour parts. 

Once during the morning there is an interval for recreation in the conrt-yard 
of the school, and the- pupils are directed in their exercises of marching and 
counter-marching, and the like, by one of the teachers. 

The course marked out in the foregoing programme, as far as it extends, seems 
to me well adapted to educate the moral and intellectual faculties, as well as 
the senses ; to give mental vigor, while it furnishes information useful to the 
pupil in after life. 

There are peculiarities in regard to the religious instruction, even as intended 
for Protestants, which may be remarked in the fifth and third classes, the object 
of wliich I do not understand. In other respects, when sectarian instruction 
may be given, as in this school, where all the pupils are of one denomination, the 
course appears to be good. The manner of communicating the instruction by 
conversation and lectures, renders it very effective. There are in all the classes, 
taken together, twenty-two hours per week devoted to religious instruction 
here, and eighteen in the other, but the programme does not show a gain in the 
amount of knowledge communicated. 

The course in the motlier tongue is fully explained in the programme, and is 
well adapted to produce fluency and accuracy of expression in conversation and 
Writing. Both this and the foregoing course extend, as they should, through all 
the classes. 

The Latin language is introduced with a view to preparation for a gymnasium, 
in the nomenclature of natural history, the business of the chemist and druggist, 
and perhaps, to use the language of an accomplished teacher in one of the higher 
town schools, " because such always has been the custom." I would give the 
preference to the course of this school over that of the other, considering the 
time of twenty seven hours devoted to it more appropriate than of thirty, as in 
the other. 

The French, besides, combining with the German and Latin to give the due 
proportion of intellectual culture from language, is introductory to the courses 
in the real schools, Avhich are parallel with the gymnasia, and prepare for the 
polytechnic or other speciiil schools, as the latter do for the university. It is 
practically useful, too, to the shopkeeper and tradesman of the continent of 
Europe, and was, probably, formerly more so than at present. The Latin language 
is begun in tlie fourth class, or at about eight years of age, and the French Ian' 
guage in the third class, but neither occupy more than three hours a week, until 
a year afterward. These languages occupy forty-seven hours per week, during 
the entire period through which they are taught. 

Nothing can be better than the foimdation laid for arithmetic. The pupils are 



SEMINARY SCHOOL OP BERLIN. 205 

engaged a year In practical arithmetic before they are introduced to a knowl- 
edge of abstract nimibers. Habits of thought are given by simple exercises in 
mental arithmetic. The eye is enlisted to aid the mind by computing with cubes, 
according to the method in the schools of Holland. Written arithmetic relieves 
the mental exertion, aids the memory, and trains the hand. The course is then 
carried on, combining mental and AVritten arithmetic, and reaching algebra, which 
is also, in part, taught mentally. 

The course of geometry begins with ideas of form, in connection with drawing, 
according to Pestalozzi's method, whicli it follows in general. It is thus a pow- 
erful means of stimulating the mind, and, though the time occupied is greater 
than if the subject were taught in the ordinary way, the results are much more 
satisfactory. If there is latent mathematical talent in a pupil; his powers of 
invention cannot foil to be drawn out by this method. 

Natural history is not left to incidental instruction, to be derived from the 
readincr-book, but is directly taught in the last two years. I had not the oppor- 
tunity of judging of the fruits of this instruction in the seminary school itself, but 
the pupils of the seminary were pursuing the subject with zeal. In comparing 
this course with that of the other school, I think it preferable, except in the 
omission, at the bearinning, of an account of tlie domestic animals. There will be, 
I doubt not, great improvements in teaching tliis branch at a future day. At 
present, the plan is hardly formed, and the collections for illustration, where they 
exist at all, are, in general, quite small. There is, besides, a tendency to make 
the course too strictly scientific. 

The system of instruction in geography is begun in the third class, or at nine 
vears of age, witli a description of home. History, which in its elements is corn- 
Lined with geography, takes a separate place in the second class. The practice 
of giving biographical sketches instead of mere chronological details, cannot be 
too much commended. The pupil learns with interest the events of the lives of 
men who liave made an impression upon tlie age in which they lived ; these 
events form an outline which is easily fixed in the mind, and may subsequently 
be filled up in detaiL Again, the discussions of inventions and discoveries in 
art or science afford relief from the descriptions of battles and revolutions, and 
serve to show the influence of genius exerted in civil life. 

The phonic method of teaching to read, Avants only the use of words having a 
meaning, as in Mr. Wood's system, to be nearly perfect. No reading is allowed, 
however, witliout understanding not only the words, but their connection, arid 
the ideas conveyed by the sentences. The habit of thus giving paraphrases of 
subjects, leads to facility of expression, and by combining this with copying from 
good models, a correct style is formed. The course of reading of the liighest 
class, includes selections from the German classics. Introductory exercises in 
drawing precede the instruction in writing ; these might, I have no doubt, be 
much further extended with advantage.* A good handwriting is produced by 
the succession of exercises described in the programme. The course of drawing, 
which is commenced as a distinct branch in the fourth class, is intended to enable 
the pupil to sketch correctly, and with facility, such objects of furniture, ma- 
chinery, <fec., as he may have occasion to represent in his occupations in after life. 
The addition of two hours of drawing in the fifth class, would seem to me not to 
overburden the class with AVork, while it would add materially to their profi- 
ciency in this useful branch. 

Singhig is successfully taught, and by note. It is considered an indispensable 
branch of instruction, and all my convictions are in its favor, whether as a means 
of developing moral sentiment, or of physical education. Singing by ear might, 
however, very well begin in the lower classes, and for this purpose the number 
of hours of instruction per week might be increased from twenty-four to twenty- 
six in the lowest, and twenty-eight in the fiftli class. 

The time allotted to the different studies will appear better by the annexed 
table. In regard to the ages of the pupils, inserted in the heading of the columns, 
it is to be understood that they are tliose of intelligent and industrious boys 
entering at six years, and going regularly through the classes. The subjects of 

* As has been done for the elements of an English hand, by our countryman, Mr. Rembrandt 
Peale, in his admirable system of graphics. Tfee forms of the German letters \TOuld require a 
•different system. 



106 



SEMINARY SCHOOL OF BERLIN. 



instruction are placed in the first column, the number of hours per week occupied 
by the several classes in the following ones, and the total number of hours de- 
voted to each subject, while in the school, in the last column. In forming this 
total, the number of hours occupied by the four lower classes, the course in each 
of which is of one year, is reckoned once ; and the number of hours of the two 
upper classes, each com-se occupying two years, is doubled. 

Table of distribution of time in the Royal Seminar)/ School of Berlin. 



SUBJECTS OF INSTRUCTION. 


NUMBER OF HOURS 


PER 


WEEK. 1 


He 


C E" 
8 ^ 

rX2 


. bo 

•a a 
Ho 


il 
li 

o >-. 

fc,QD 


.2 

■S s 


.a. 

OJO 


1 

22 
27 
31 
27 
20 
28 
10 

8 
10 

8 
19 
12 
12 




2 
3 
2 
6 

t 

2 
2 
2 
2 

2 
2 

32 


2 
3 
2 
4 
4 
3 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

82 


3 
4 
3 
4 
4 
3 
2 

2 

3 

2 
2 

32 


3 
4 
5 
3 

4 

3 
2 

2 

26 


4 
4 
8 

4* 

4 
24 


4 
3 
7 

5 

5 

24 




Reading, .... 
















Writincr 









From this table it appears that language occupies one hundred and five hours, 
estimating the time devoted to reading with that for German, Latin, and French, 
science sixty-four hours, and the mechanical branches, including writing, drawing, 
and singing, forty-three. It would be erroneous, however, to suppose that the 
results are in these proportions. The least consideration will show that the pro- 
gress in different branches in the same school cannot be estimated by the time 
devoted to them ; the intrinsic difficulties of acquisition, tlie different periods of 
the course at which they are introduced, and various other causes, prevent com- 
parisons of this sort. 

* Tbls includes preparatory geometrical exercises 



NORMAL SCHOOLS 

FOK 

FEMALE TEACHERS IN PRUSSIA 



The school system of Prussia, as well as the European system of public 
instruction generally, is defective in its provision for female education be- 
yond the lov/est grades of schools. While boys are highly instructed in 
language, the elements of science, and the principles of the useful arts, in 
public schools of a higher grade, the girls, except those of the wealthy 
and aristocratic classes, are eniirely neglected. This has had the effect 
to open a chasm, broad and deep, between the intelligence and intellec- 
tual capabilities of the two sexes — has weakened the power and influence 
of woman on society — has narrowed the circle of a mother's teaching at 
home, and shut her out from the wide and appropriate field of employ- 
ment as a teacher in every grade of public and private schools. The 
most valuable contribution now making by our American, and especially 
our New England experience, to the advancement of public education, is 
the demonstration of the wisdom of giving to every girl, rich or poor, and 
whatever may be her destination in life, an education which shall corres- 
pond, in amount and adaptation, to that given to boys in the same school — 
and particularly, to such as show the requisite tact, ta-^te, and character, 
an appropriate training for the employment of teaching. Our experience 
has shown not only the capacity of woman, but her superiority to the 
male sex, in the whole work of domestic and primary instruction, — not only 
as principal teachers of infant and the lowest class of elementary schools, 
but as assistants in schools of every grade in which girls are taught, and 
as principal teachers, with special assistance in certain studies, in country 
schools generally. Their more gentle and refined manners, purer morals, 
stronger instinctive love for the society of children, and greater tact in 
their management, their talent for conversational teaching, and quickness 
in apprehending the difficulties which embarrass a young mind, and their 
powers, when properly developed, and sustained by enlightened public 
sentiment, of governing even the most wild and stubborn dispositions hj 
mild and moral influences — are now generally acknowledged by our most 
experienced educators. Let this great fiict be once practically and gen- 
erally recognized in the administration of public schools in Europe, and 
let provision be made for the training of female teachers on a thorough 
and liberal scale, as is now done for young men, and a change v/ill psiss 
over the whole face of society. 

Until within ten years no attempt was made to train females for the 
employment of teaching, except in certain convents of the Catholic 
church, where the self-r'enying life which the rules of their establishment 



108 



NORMAL SCHOOLS FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PRUSSIA, 



require, and the excellent education there given, are an admirable pre- 
paration for the important duties which many of the sisters are called 
upon to perform as teachers in schools for the poor, as well as for board- 
ing-schools connected with their religious houses. 

In 1840, for the first time, a seminary for female teachers, governessea, 
or rather a seminary course, was established at Marienweider, in the 
province of Prussia, in connection with a high school for young ladies, in- 
stituted by Alberti. The course is for two years. Candidates must be 
sixteen years of age, must be confirmed, and pass a satisfactory examina- 
tion in the branches taught in common schools. Instruction is given in 
French, English, and Itahan languages, as well as in the German litera- 
ture and language, arithmetic, history, geography, natural sciences, music, 
history of art and esthetics, including drawing, sketching, &c., as well as in 
the theory and practice of teaching. T he charge for tuition and residence 
can not exceed four thalers a month, and this is reduced according to the 
circumstances and continuance at the seminary of the pupils. In 1847, 
there Avere twenty-two pupils. 

In 1841, a class of female teachers was instituted in connection with the 
celebrated " Diaconissen Anstalt," at Kaiserswerth, erected by Mr. Fleid- 
ner. The course for elementary schools occupied two years. In addition 
to the studies pursued at Marienweider, instruction is given in domestic 
economy and household work. Practice in teaching is had in the orphan 
and hospital schools, and the elementary school of the great establish- 
ment. In 1848, there were eighty-five pupils, forty-four of whom were 
destined for infant and industrial schools. 

The " school for deaconesses," at Kaiserswerth. on the Rhine, was in- 
stituted by Rev. Thomas Fleidner, the pastor of its small Protestant par- 
ish, who seems to be acting in a new sphere of Christian benevolence 
with the spirit of Franke. The main object of the institution was to train 
females of the right spirit — females who are willing to consecrate a por- 
tion of their lives in humility and love to the service of their iellow-crea- 
tures, for Christ's sake — to the practical duties of the sick room. The 
oricrinal plan has been extended so as to embrace a Normal department 
for training young women of the same spirit for teachers of infant schools, 
as well as an asylum for erring. It is conceived in the spirit, and to some 
extent, formed on the model of some of the orders of sisters of charity, in 
the Catholic church. It presents a new application of the principle, and 
illustrates in a beautiful manner the importance, of Normal or professional 
training in every department of life which involve art and method. The 
following account of a visit to the institution is abridged from a communi- 
cation in Lowes' Edinburgh Magazine, for 1846. 

" Kaiserswerth is the name of a small village on the east Dank of the Rhine, 
about an hour from Dusseldorf The village is clean and orderly, but very an- 
cient in its houses, and still more so in the aspect of its church and manse. 
This circnmslance the more fixes the attention of the traveler on a new street 
running at right angles to the old one. All the buildings in it are peculiar, and 
piece on but awkwardly with the old manse, whence they spring, and which is 
. . occupied by the " School for Deaconesses." The Rev. Thomas Fleidner is pa£- 



NORMAL SCHOOLS FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PRUSSIA. jqq 

-tor of this small parish, and has found full occupation for his benevolent energy 

, ia the institution of which he is the founder. 

We unwittingly made our visit of investigation on the great anniversary ; a 
day for school examinations, for inspecting the hospitals, and for setting apart, 

• for the exercise of their functions, wheresoever they may be called, such dea- 
conesses as have satisfactorily passed through their period of training. The 
whole place was therefore in its best attire. Windows bright, walls newly 
colored, and every here and there, where an arch or a peg to hang a wreath 
upon could be found, active and tasteful hands had transferred the garden's 
autumnal treasures of flowers to the various chambers of the dwellings. In a 
room on one side of the street, the floor was covered with beds for the repose 
of visiting schoolmistresses and deaconesses who had returned to enjo^ the day 
with their former associates ; while, on the other, the hall with its table of 

, many covers, and the savor of good food from the kitchen, indicated that the 
mother was on that day to entertain her children. In short, it was a gala day — 
the day of all the year when many acquisitions are brought to light, and for 
which many a studious preparation is made. As all were engaged in the ex- 
amination of the orphan-school, we had leisure, while waiting, to observe the 
characteristic furniture of the manse parlor, where, according to the fashion of 
the country, the pale sand crackled under our feet. There hangs a portrait of 
Mrs. Fleidner, the honored and most useful coadjutor of her husband. She has 
been a fitting mother of that institution, of which he is the father. Having 
given out all her strength to it, she was in her prime translated from the land 
of labor and anxiety to the land of eternal rest. 

Near her is placed, in meet companionship, a portrait of our Mrs. Fry, whose 

. experienced eye took in at once, with much delight, the utility of the whole in- 
stitution. On the same wall appears a portrait of Mr. Fleidner's mother, a 
venerable widow of a former pastor, whose lovely Christian bearing we had 
occasion to respect and admire, having made her acquaintance in a distant city. 
She had reared a large family for the church, and suffered many hardships 
while her country was the scene of French warfare, being long separated from 
her husband, uncertain of his safety, and moving from place to place with her 
young children, at times at a loss for a lodging and all necessary provision. 

Opposite to these portraits are engravings of some of the Protestant Reform- 
ers, among whom appear Luther and Calvin ; and in a corner a cupboard 
with a glass door, furnished with books for sale, chiefly such as are employed 
in the schools or report their condition. Also the noble set of Scripture prints 
which was prepared for the institution, but which is now to be found in many 
seminaries for the benevolent instruction of the young in Germany and Prussia. 
Presently an amiable and gentlemanly man, who apologized for his imperfect 

.English, came and guided us to the school-room, in which an intelligent teacher 
was calling forth the attainments of his pupils. The audience consisted of Mr. 
Fleidner's co-presbyters, the physician, a lew personal friends, the teachers 
who were that day visitors to the school where they had themselves been trained, 
and as many of the deaconesses as could' be spared from their regular avo- 
cations. 

The orphans under examination are many of them the children of pastors 
and schoolmasters. They looked more vigorous and hearty than most children 
of their age do in Germany, and are receiving good, sound education, which 
will fit them to help both themselves and others in future life. 

We were led from the school-room to the dormitories, and found each con- 
taining six small beds, and one larger. The deaconess, who occupies the 
larger bed, is regarded as the mother of these six children, and fills that office 
as to washing, clothing, medicating, and instructing them, just as a real mother 
ought to do. Each bed has a drawer which draws out at its foot, containing all 
the little tenant's property, and on the opposing wall is hung a tin basin, jug, 
and tooth-brush for the use of each. The deaconess soon feels an attachment 
to the orphans spring up in her bosom, while she also feels responsibility about 
their neat and healthy appearance, proper demeanor, and attainments of all 
kinds. 

We next saw the delinquents' shelter, and two women in charge, one an 
older, sensible, firm-looking person, whose post is probably never changed, and 

. another younger, her pupil. They showed us with some satisfaction the needle- 
work they had taught to a set of lowering-browed, unpromising-looking females, 



no NORMAL SCHOOLS FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PRUSSIA. 

who, like their peers in Scotland, gratify their curiosity by side-peeps, but never 
look you fairly in the face. From the educational system of Prussia, it rarely 
occurs that reading requires to be taught to adults. The senior deacones.s 
spoke mildly and sensibly of some intractable, two or three runaways, some re- 
conciled to friends, some restored to society, and acquitting themseives well in 
service. In short, it was a fac-simile of poor humanity, and the uncertain re- 
sults of benevolent effort at home. These women sleep in small apartments, 
which fill one side of a long gallery — each contains a bed, a stool, and a box, 
and in the midst of them is the room for the deaconess, who is, by 'means of 
her open door, enabled to observe all movements, and prevent all communica- 
tions 01^ the subject of past transgressions. The delinquents are shut into their 
night-rooms. 

In the infant school department, we did not observe any thing differing from 
what is to be seen in the best schools of the same style elsev.'here, unless we 
might mention an extensive frame of pigeon-holes, each numbered to indicate 
the proprietor, and occupied by pieces of bread. In this Normal School have 
been trained teachers who are now engaged in managing the infant population 
in many parts of Prussia and Germany. 

We crossed the little street, and entered, on the opposite side, the hospital, a 
handsome building entirely of recent erection, in a pretty extensive and neatly 
laid-out garden, where we observed some patients of all ages — the children at 
play or carried in the arms of their tender-looking nurse — the adults resting on 
benches in the sun, for the day was cool, or moving feebly as their reduced 
strength enabled them. 

Our guide, whom we here discovered to be chaplain to the hospital, led us 
first into the apothecary's room, where we saw two sensible, energetic-looking 
women compounding medicines after the prescription of the physician. They 
are licensed by government, serving a regular time to the acquisition of this 
important branch of knowledge, and are always on the spot to watch the effect 
of their administrations. The place is fitted up like a druggist's shop at home. 
We forgot to inquire if the counter, within whose raiJed-off quarter the chief 
apothecary stood, is rendered necessary by the shop being frequented by the 
villagers, which seems probable. The other deaconess was working at a mor- 
tar. From this place we passed to the kitchen, and saw the huge apparatus 
necessary for ieeding such a family, and the extra supply required on that festal 
day, when their family was greatly increased. The plans for keeping food in 
that warm country, the cleanliness and beautiful order of the larder and laun- 
dries, indeed of every corner, was quite remarkable, and the ventilation so per- 
fect, that even when we ascended to wards occupied by persons in bed, or rest- 
ing on the long benches, who looked very ill, the atmosphere was tolerably fresh 
and agreeable. Our conductors dropped here and there a good word to the sick 
as we passed. In the male wards a part of the attendance seems to be done by 
men, but each has its quota of deaconesses who have their own charge and re- 
sponsibility In one chamber we found five women who had joined the estab- 
lishment a few days before, who were engaged in learning the useful art of 
cutting out clothing, under two instructors. There was something touching in 
the ward of sick children, where we saw many eyes beaming tenderness, and 
many hearts exercising all the maternal instincts, albeit not mothers. Some 
who were very sick formed for the time the sole charge of one deaconess, while 
three or four might be intrusted to the care of another. In addition to minute 
watchfulness over the body, there is, as they can bear it, an endeavor to occupy 
the memory with suitablehymns and passages of Scripture, and to engage their 
minds on subjects that lead them to glorify God by honoring and loving Him in 
the days of their youth. The chaplain was acquainted with each face, and its 
owner's little history, and tried to draw out a little repetition of their small store 
of Scripture learning. One could not but remark the useful discipline which 
such employment must be for the young women who are engaged in it, or fail 
to observe the loving patience with which one or two met the feverish frac- 
tiousness of their nurslings. 

The ofl[ice of these ' sisters of charity,' which elevates them above the common 
sick nurse, and engages them in concerns that touch on eternity, is that of read- 
ing the Scriptures to the sick and aged, and dropping a word of consolation 
into the languid ear, while they minister to the bodily wants. This they are 
authorized and expected to do, so that, instead of doing it by stealth, as a pious 



NORMAL SCHOOLS FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PRUSSIA. j jj 

sick nurse may do in our hospitals; or, instead of railing on the poor sufferer 
who cries out in concern for his soul's health, as an impious one has sometimes 
been known to do. they breathe balm while they turn the pillow, and speak of 
the way of reconciliation while they endeavor to lull pain. They are by the 
bed in the midnight hour, and can seize the moment of coolness and clearness 
to speak to the afflicted — a moment which neither chaplain, nor medical man, 
nor friendly visitor, may be so happy as to hit upon ; and, while they are forbid- 
den to be preachers, their living actions, their Christian bearing, and their faith- 
ful advices, are calculated to drop like balm on the wounded spirit, and have, in 
many cases, accomplished good which we may justly call incalculable, for its 
consequences are eternal. 

After examining the excellent arrangement of the sick wards, we found our- 
selves in the chapel. It is placed at the lower extremity of the long range of 
buildings, and so crosses the end of four wards, two on the iirst, and two on the 
second story, the door of entrance to the chapel being placed in the center. 
Each ward has a folding-door of glass in the side of the place of worship, b)' 
opening which the Word of God can sound along even to the remoter beds. 
On communion occasions, the pastor is accustomed to convey the elements into 
these wards, so that many a fainting soul is thus refreshed, which, in any other 
circumstances, would be denied the privileges of the house of God. There are, 
on one side of the chapel, seals where the feeble can recline, and some with 
muslin curtains, behind which the unhappy or unsightly can find shelter. In 
this small, but sacred, place of worship, at three o'clock on that afternoon, 
October 5th, were the deaconesses, whose term of training was satisfactorily 
come to a close, questioned before the congregation with respect to their wil- 
lingness to devote themselves to the work of mercy for the next five years, and 
having assented to the engagement proposed to them, they were solemnly set 
apart by prayer. They are now prepared to go to whatever city or country, to 
whatever hospital, or Normal Institution, or private family they may be called, 
the taste and capacity of the individual of course being consulted ; for it must 
be carefully explained that there is nothing like a monastic vow of 'obedience 
to the church' in this affair, and that the engagement is formed subject to being 
set aside by the claims of nearer domestic duties, if such should arise. Some 
deaconesses have been called away to assist their own families, some have 
been lost to the Institution by entering on the conjugal relation. In truth, un- 
fortunately for their vocation, they are rather too popular, as making excellent 
wives. But while one regards this circumstance with regret as respects the 
scheme, it is delightful to contemplate the sister of charily transformed into the 
rearer of her own children in the tear of the Lord. 

In conversing with Mr. Fleidner, before taking leave, on the utility of form- 
ing such an institution in Scotland, he suggested, as a fundamental and absolute 
necessity, that it be ascertained that all who are admitted to the school are per- 
sons renewed in the spirit of their minds, and willing, under the guidance of the 
Holy Spirit, to devote themselves in humility and love to the service of their 
fellow-creatures for Christ's sake. 

The two Prussian provinces of ihe Rhineland and Westphalia are united for 
its support, and it is under the superintendence of ihe Protestant Provincial Sy- 
nod. Above one hundred deaconesses are now at work in different parts of 
Germany. Sixty are occupied in seventeen hospitals and orphan-houses at 
Berlin, Dresden, Frankfort, Worms, Cologne, Elberfeld, &c. Several are en- 
gaged for large congregations which have no hospital, and about twenty are 
sent out at the request of private families to nurse their sick members, Sec. 
Five are now at work in the German hospital at Datston, near London: one 
of them is matron of the establishment. It can readily be apprehended how 
uniformity of language, ideas, methods of preparing food, &c., will render these 
acceptable nurses to their sick countrymen. 

In this country we lack a little of the German simplicity, and are so nice 
about distinctions of rank, and what belongs to our supposed station in society, 
that it may excite strong displeasure if we say that there are many single wo- 
men in Scotland, of the excellent of the earth, who are not so useful in the 
church as they might be ; that the reason of this is their want of proper guid- 
ance in selecting their work, and of support in its prosecution, and that the 
deaconess' status in society, and the style of character and bearing expected from 
her, is exactly what is wanted to confer the necessary energy and steadiness. 



112 NORMAL SCHOOLS FOR FEMALE TEACHERS IN PRUSSIA. 

At Kaiserswerlh, tliere are scholars not only of the middle classes, but several 
of the hi°:her ranks of life. The king of Prussia, having taken a lively view of 
the utility of the Institution, is now forming a large model hospital at Berlin — 
a baroness, trained under Mr. Fleidner, is its destined matron ; and twelve well- 
trained deaconesses are without delay to be called into active employment there. 

The principle on which the deaconess is required to act is that of willingness 
to be a servant of Christ alone; to devote herself to the service, without the 
worldly stimulus of pecuniary emolument, and without over solicitude about 
worldly comibrts ; to do the work of charity and self-denial, out of gratitude to 
her Savior. 

Her wants are all supplied by the Institution, respectably, but without super- 
fluity; while the salary paid annually for her services by the family, parish, or 
hospital, by which she is employed, is paid to Kaiserswerth. From the fund 
thus accumulated, the supplies of the deaconesses are derived, and those of them 
who have suffered in health, in consequence of their services, are by it entirely 
sustained. 

The deaconess, with her healthful, beaming, loving countenance, distin- 
guished from her neighbors only by her dark print gown, a white habit-shirt, 
and cap, (a hit of head-gear that one often misses painfully, even on grey- 
headed German matrons,) looks all animation, attention, and lively collected- 
ness of spirit. 

There is at Kaiserswerth the simplicity of real life in this working-day- 
world, as exhibited by persons whose actions are under the influence of grate- 
ful love to their Lord and Redeemer, and to their fellow-pilgrims." 

In 1846, a Seminary for female teachers was established in connection 
with a new Institution for young ladies, in Friedrickstadt, Berlin. The 
course extends through two years, and includes tlie branches and prac- 
tical exercises before specified. In all teachers intended for governesses, 
particular attention is paid to music, drawing, and the Italian and French 
languages, as well as to the literature of the German. 

In 1847, a regulation was adopted for the examinationof female teach- 
ers in the province of Bradenburg. The examination is conducted by a 
committee consisting of one member from the school-board of the province, 
and the directors and two teachers of the new seminary in Friedrickstadt. 
It is confined, unless the applicant desires a certificate for a higher 
school, to the branches taught in the primary schools. It is conducted 
by written ansv/ers to a few questions in each branch, to be made out 
without books, and without conference with each other; in conversation 
on the same subjects and pedagogical points ; and in giving trial lessons 
in teaching. A record is taken of the examination, and if the result is 
satisfactory, a certificate is issued by the school-board of the Province. 
If the pupils of the seminary in Friedrickstadt can pass a similar exam- 
ination before leaving the institution, they are not subjected to any- 
farther examination. 



PREPARATORY SCHOOLS 

FOR 

NORMAL SEMINARIES. 



There is much diversity of opinion among the directors of seminaries 
as to the best preparatory course for those who propose to become Nor- 
mal pupils, after they leave the primary schools, and before they are of 
age, or have the requisite knowledge to enter the seminary. To meet the 
want of some preparation, there has grown up a class of institutions, 
devoted, in whole or in part, to this specific work. In some instances, 
these institutions exist in connection with the seminary, as a sort of high 
school ; in others, they are located in large towns, apart from the semin" 
aries ; and in other cases, they are nothing more than private classes 
under clergymen, or retired teachers. In the province of Brandenburg, 
in 1847, there were thirteen preparatory institutions, besides twenty-two 
clergymen, or teachers, occupied with preparing pupils for teachers' sem- 
inaries. 

In the seminary at Konigsberg the preparatory school is the ancient 
orphan house (orphanoirophy) established by Frederick III., Duke of 
Prussia, the day on which he declared his dukedom to be a kingdom, and 
himself king, under the name of Frederick the First. At Brenslau, and 
at several other places, the preparatory school is a charity school for poor 
scholars, but receives pupils, rich or poor, who wish to become teachers. 

Dr. Harnisch, in his treatise on the common schools of Prussia, objects 
to these preparatory schools, and prefers that the young candidate, after 
leaving school, should serve a sort of apprenticeship to an older teacher, 
be engaged a portion of the day in household work, assisting in every 
form of labor, high and low, which his master or guardian may have to 
perform, for the purpose of developing his practical talent, giving him a 
knowledge of life, of men and things — that sort of " round about" common 
sense, which nothing but actual contact with practical life will give. 
This the director deems of more importance than the additional book- 
learning which the candidate would have acquired in a regularly-con- 
ducted school, even though his studies are shaped to his future pro- 
fession. 

The experience of the ablest directors in Germany demonstrates the 
importance of receiving into these institutions only pupils who have the 
right spirit, and who have reached an age, and had that discipline of life, 
which can decide the calling of the individual. Otherwise the Normal 
course may turn out valuable thinkers, men of learning and ability, with 
a large fund of practical knowledge of good methods, and yet deficient 
in that creative spirit, and that love of the details of the profession, which 
make the superior teacher. 



SAXONY. 



The constitution of Saxony, although monarchical, is based upon repre- 
sentative institutions. The members of the lower chamber are elected 
by freeholders, and almost every head of a family is a freeholder. 

Saxony was one of the earliest of the German states to convert the 
parochial schools of the old ecclesiastical organization into public schools, 
and to provide for the special training of teachers to the duties of their 
profession. In the cession of a large portion of her territory to Prussia in 
1816, several of her best teachers' seminaries, and higher literary institu- 
tions, were transferred to that power, and with them went several of her 
most devoted and distinguished educators, and among them the celebrated 
School Councilor Dinter. 

The present school law was given in 1836, and since that time more 
has been done in Saxony for the improvement of common schools than 
in any other German state. Particular attention has been paid to the 
regular attendance of children at school ; to the supervision of both public 
and private schools, and to the qualification and compensation of teachers. 

A number of common schools, corresponding to the wants of the people, 
is insured by a division of the kingdom into school circuits (schul-bezirke,) 
and all the children residing in each circuit must attend the school there 
established. No boy can be apprenticed until after the age at which he 
may lawfully leave school. Congregations of different religious persua- 
sions are allowed to establish schools in their circuit, and if no other school 
exists than one so established, all the children of the circuit are bound to 
attend it ; they are not, however, required to take part in the religious 
instruction. 

Every school circuit must furnish a school-house, and a dwelling for the 
teacher. The schools are supported from funds of the church, from the 
interest on donations to the school fund, from fines levied on parents who 
neglect to send their children to school, from a payment made to the 
school fund in purchases of property, from collections, from the fees paid 
by the pupils, and from direct taxation. These funds are chargeable with 
the master's salary, with the furniture of the school, books and slates for 
poor children, prizes, insurance, and incidental expenses. 

Primary schools in Saxony, as in Prussia, are of two grades. In the 



IIQ PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN SAXONY. 

lower, or elementary school, pupils must receive instruction, by law, in : — 
1. Religion. 2. Exercises of speech and reading. 3. Caligraphy and 
orthography, with written exercises on subjects relating to the affairs of 
common life. 4. Mental and written arithmetic. 5. Singing. 6. The 
most important portions of natural history, geography, and history, espe- 
cially those of the country. The details of the school plan are left to the 
teacher and local school inspector. 

In the higher grade, or lower burgher school, the amount taught in 
these branches is increased, and exercises of style, geometry, and draw- 
ing, are added. 

The books used in the Protestant schools are, the Bible, Luther's Cat- 
echism, the hymn book, and three reading books, the selection of which 
is made by the local school inspector. In the Roman Catholic schools, 
the selection of books is left to the ecclesiastical authorities. 

The regular time for attendance is six hours on three days in the week, 
and four on two other days, making twenty-six hours per week. The 
vacations are regulated by the church festivals, and last about a week at 
a time. Children above ten years of age, in the country, are exempted, 
during harvest time, from attendance at school. 

The punishments are chiefly addressed to the moral sentiments, but 
corporeal chastisement, in extreme cases, is allowed. The code of dis- 
cipline is required to be placed in a conspicuous situation in the school- 
room. 

Every child must attend school for eight years, (from the age of six to 
fourteen,) and there is attached to each school a person whose duty it is 
to ascertain the causes of the absences of pupils, and who is entitled to a 
small fee from the parents for each call he makes upon them. According 
to statistics in the " German School Gazette," every child of a suita- 
ble age and of sound capacity was in some school, public or private, for a 
portion of the year 1846. 

The kingdom is divided into four circles, in each of which there is a 
school board, which has charge of all primary schools, and teachers' sem- 
inaries, and regulates all appointments of teachers, and all pecuniary al- 
lowances — subordinate only to the Minister of Public Instruction. 

Next in authority is a district board of inspectors, having charge of a 
certain number of schools — subordinate to the school board of the circle. 
The district board consists of a superintendent, the highest ecclesiastical 
and civil authority in the district, and a representative of the patrons of 
each school. The superintendent is the district inspector ; who must 
counsel with the board, visit all schools, and report on the fidelity and ca- 
pacity of each teacher. 

The lowest authority is a committee for each school circuit, composed 
of four persons, one of whom must be a clergyman, who must assemble 
on fixed days to consult together for the interests of the schools, must 
hold semi-annual examinations in the presence of the district inspector, and 
report annually on the condition of the classes. 

No person can be licensed who has not attained twenty-one years of 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN SAXONY. 117 

age, passed one examination as a candidate, served two years as an as- 
sistant, and passed a second examination of a higher grade ; as, by the 
law of 1825, he must have graduated at a teachers' seminary. There 
are now nine of these institutions, besides a seminary for classical teachers, 
which was established in Leipsic in 1784, by Beck, and in which Her- 
mann and Klotz subsequently gave instruction, for twelve students in 
philology, meeting twice a week. The annual graduates of these Normal 
Schools are now sufficient to supply all vacancies which occur in the 
schools. The state appropriates 14,050 thalers, (about $12,000,) annually 
to the support of these seminaries. 

The prescribed course of instruction occupies four years, and no one 
can now receive a certificate of qualification as a teacher without having 
gone through this course, or showing an amount of attainment and prac- 
tical skill which shall be deemed its equivalent. 

The seminaries were located as follows in 1848 : 

rr. . T-. J S The Royal, with 7 teachers and 71 pupils. 

Two at Dresden, J ^^^ Fletcher, " 6 - " 21 "^ " 



One at Freiberg 
One at Zitlau, 
One a I Bredissin, 
One at Plauen, 
One at Grimma, 
One at Annaberg, 
One at Waldenbers 



4 " " 73 

2 " " 13 
6 " " 42 

5 " " 45 

6 " " 70 

3 " " 13 
2 " " 15 



The Royal Seminary at Dresden was founded in 1785, by Elector 
Augustus IV., and formerly possessed the celebrated Dinter as one of its 
directors. It was intended for fifty pupils, with a staff of four officers, in- 
cluding the directors. All the pupils, except those whose parents live in 
Dresden, board and lodge in the institution with the officers. Calinisch, 
one of the highest educational authorities in Germany, is vice-director. 
Connected with the seminary are six common schools, of the city, in 
which the pupils of the seminary acquire practice. 

The Fletcher Seminary was founded by Baron Fletcher in 1825, and 
has its own administration, although it is aided by the government. Pro- 
vision is made in the institution for twenty pupils, who, for the annual 
charge of about $30, receive board, lodging and instruction, and in the 
second and third year of their course, a still larger allowance is made, 
especially to the poor and deserving. There is an institution for deaf 
mutes in the same building. 

The government makes its appropriation in aid of local effort, and funds 
and graduates its payments according to the character and standing of 
the several teachers — providing that no teacher shall receive less than 
130 thalers in the country, and 140 in the towns, besides a residence. In 
1846, out of 2,142 teachers, only 315 received less than 130 thalers, 
(equivalent here to $130,) and all but 687 were engaged not only through 
the year, but permanently, and had a residence. 

The government has also established, on a foundation of 30,000 thalers, 
an institution, commenced in 1840, by Dohner, for superannuated teachers, 



118 PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN SAXONY. 

and the widows and orphans of teachers. To secure the benefits of the 
fund, teachers of the first class, (teachers in gymnasia, real schools and 
seminaries,) pay at their admission 4 thalers, and annually from 4 to 8 
thalers, according to their salary. Teachers of the second class, (of 
common schools,) pay 2 thalers, and yearly from 1 to 4 thalers, accord- 
ing to their salary. The state takes care of the funds, and makes up 
any deficiency of the revenue of the fund to meet the demand upon it, 
besides a contribution of 2,000 thalers toward the capital. The fund 
yields : — 1. To the widows of teachers of the first class, yearly, 60 thalers. 
2. To orphans of teachers of the same class. 12 thalers until they reach 
iheir eighteenth year. 3. To widows of teachers of the second class, 30 
thalers, and to their children 8 thalers. Teachers are thus not only 
provided against want while living, but from anxiety for their families, 
when dead, or incapacitated for active exertion. The result of these wise 
provisions on the part of the government, is seen in the improved and 
improving condition of the schools, and the higher attainments, profes- 
sional skill, and social standing and influence of the teachers. 

With a population of 1,809,023 in 1846, there was one university with 
85 professors and 835 students ; six academies of the Arts and Mining, with 
43 professors and teachers, and 1,400 pupils ; eleven gymnasia, with 131 
teachers, and 1,590 pupils; six higher burgher and real schools, with 18 
teachers, and 270 pupils ; three special institutions for commerce and 
military affairs, with 43 teachers and 240 pupils ; nine teachers' seminaries, 
with 41 teachers, and 362 pupils ; seventeen higher schools of industry 
or technical schools, with 72 teachers and 779 pupils; sixty -nine lower 
technical schools, with — teachers, and 6,966 pupils ; twenty-four schools 
for lace-making, with 37 teachers and 1,928 pupils; and 2,155 common 
schools, Avith 2,175 teachers and 278,022 pupils ; besides one institution for 
the blind ; one for deaf mutes ; three orphan asylums ; and a number of 
infant schools and private seminaries. 



NORMAL SEMINARY IN DRESDEN. 



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WIRTEMBERG. 



WiRTEMEERG was one of the earliest of the German states to establish 
a graduated system of public mstruction, from the common school to the 
university, and has always shared largely in all the educational move- 
ments of Germany. The framework of the school system in operation 
in 1848, was substantially the same as it was in 1538, enlarged from time 
to time to meet the demands of the age for new institutions and a more 
liberal and practical instruction. With a population of 1,750,000 there 
were the following institutions, aided by the government, in 1847: 

One University at Tubingen, with six faculties, seventy-one professors, 
and fcOO students. 

Nine Real Schools, with seventy teachers. 

Six Gymnasia, each with ten professors and three assistants, (that at 
Stuttgart has twenty-six professors.) 

Five Lycea, each with seven teachers. 

Eighty-seven Latin Schools, in which eighty-six classical teachers, sixty- 
six real teachers, and forty-four assistants are employed. 

One Protestant Theological Seminary at Tubingen, with fifteen teach- 
ers, and four preparatory theological schools in other parts, each having 
six teachers and thirty pupils. 

One Catholic Theological Seminary. 

One Polytechnic School, with twenty-one teachers and a course of in- 
struction embracing four years, for engineers, architects, &c. 

One Institute for Agriculture and Forestry at Hohenhein, the most 
complete agricultural establishment in Europe. 

One Veterinary School, with five professors. 

Two Orphan Houses, each having 278 orphans. 

Seven Schools of Art and Drawing. 

One Superior Seminary for Protestant girls, at Obenstenfeld, with 
eleven teachers. 

One Superior Seminary for Catholic girls, at Stuttgart, with thirteen 
male teachers, and thirteen female teachers. 

One Institute for Deaf Mutes and the Blind. 

One thousand four hundred and fifty-five Protestant Common Schools. 

Seven hundred and eighty-seven Catholic Schools. 

Six Teachers' Seminaries. 

These institutions, providing on a liberal scale for the educational 
wants of the whole community, are all in some way aided by the govern- 
ment, and subject to its supervision through the Home Department. 
Subordinate to this department is the Evangelical Consistory, having 
charge of the Protestant, and the Church Council, having charge of the 



122 PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN WIRTEMBERG. 

Catholic seminaries, of the higher grade. Below these, for each of the 
four circles, or districts into which the kingdom is divided, there are Su- 
perintendents of each denomination, for the Real and Latin Schools ; and 
School Inspectors for the Common Schools; and Directors of School 
Conferences, (Teachers' Institutes,) Avhich are held four times in each 
year, for the improvement of the teachers, at different points. 

Each locality, comprisinrj thirty families, is compelled by law to have a 
primary school. Localities containing a population of less than thirty fam- 
ilies, are compelled by law to unite with a neighboring locality in the 
establishment of a school. If the neighboring locality is at a distance of 
more than two and a half English miles, or the road thereto dangerous, 
then the Government Committee of Education can decree the establish- 
ment of a separate school even for fifteen families. 

If in a community of different religious confessions the minority com- 
prises sixty families, they may claim the establishment and support of a 
school of their own confession at the expense of the whole community. 
The expenses are paid by the whole community, without regard to reli- 
gious confessions, and by each individual in proportion to the amount of 
taxes paid by him. In poor communities the government contributes in 
part toward the salary of the schoolmaster and repairs of the school. 

The salaries of the schoolmaster are, in places containing 4000 inhabit- 
ants, 350 florins* and house-rent ; in places containing less than 4000 and 
•more than 2000 inhabitants, 300 florins, and house-rent. In a school 
where more than sixty scholars attend, 250 florins, and house-rent. In a 
school where less than sixty scholars attend, 200 florins, and house-rent. 

Second schoolmasters receive a salary of 150 florins, and are allowed 
one room and fuel. An assistant schoolmaster (candidate) receives a 
^salary of 120 florins. In a school where the number of scholars exceeds 
ninety, two schoolmasters are allowed ; if more than 180 scholars, three 
schoolmasters; if more than 270 scholars, four schoolmasters; and so on 
in proportion. 

The school hours are, in summer, four hours per day ; in winter, six 
hours per day. 

The school is under the inspection of the clergyman of the confession 
to which the schoolmaster belongs, and under the control of the pres- 
bytery. 

There is in each district a special school inspector, who is a clergyman. 
The visitation of the schools is made by the school inspector of the dis- 
trict, the clergyman, and the presbytery of the community. The attend- 
ance of every child at the primary school is compulsory, unless he fre- 
quents a superior school, or receives private instruction, such as he would 
obtain at the primary school. If parents forbid their children's attendance 
at the school, or do not allow their receiving private instruction, they subject 
themselves to a fine, and even imprisonment; and if afterward they should 
still refuse to allow the children to attend the school, then the police is re- 
quested to adopt such measures as will compel the children to visit the 

» A florin is thirty-eight cents. 



PUBLIC INSTRnCTION IN WIRTEMBERG. 123 

Bchool. If a child, by reason of health or otherwise, is unable to attend 
the public school, then the parents or guardians are obliged to see that he 
receive private instruction, and, if unable to pay for it, the community is 
obliged to supply the means. Children who have not frequented the pri- 
mary schools, are equally obliged to attend the public examinations. 

The right of selecting a teacher for a vacant school belongs to the local- 
ity, but in many instances, the locality has ceded this right to the author- 
ities having the supervision of the seminaries. The professional training 
and improvement of teachers in public institutions are provided for by six 
Teachers' Seminaries, sixty Teachers' Associations or Conferences, and 
twelve annual courses of one or two weeks duration, similar to our 
Teachers' Institutes, held at twelve different places in the kingdom. 

The candidates for the post of schoolmaster are not permitted to enter 
the seminary before they have reached seventeen years of age ; nor does 
their education for that most responsible situation, nor the proofs of their 
capability for it, begin at their entrance into the Normal School. Long 
before that period they must give notice of their intention to devote them- 
selves to such pursuits, and must undergo a previous preparation of two 
years ere they are allowed to enter the seminary. 

The course lasts two years, tuition is free, and the poor receive assist- 
ance as to board. 

The Seminary at Esslingen. under Director Denzel, is one of the oldest 
and most celebrated seminaries in Europe. It was founded in 1757, and 
with only sixty pupils, it has a director, two chief masters, and three 
assistants. The director is the author of the most complete treatise on 
education in any language. It is entitled the " Introduction to the Sci- 
ence and Art of Education and Instruction for Masters of Primary 
SchoolsP Six volumes, Stuttgart, 1839. The author thus explains the 
reason of his undertaking the work in his preface to the last edition : 

" When, three and twenty years ago, I entered upon my present occu- 
pation, great exertions were already in progress for the improvement of 
the elementary schools of Germany. Much had been accomplished in 
particular states, and much active discussion was going on with respect 
to the methods pursued, and the best means of raising the qualifications 
of the schoolmaster. But the times required something more than had 
yet been done for the popular schools. It came more and more to be 
understood that the school was not merely a place of instruction, but of 
education ; that the common and necessary acquirements of the arts of 
reading, writing, and ciphering were not to be the sole or the principal 
objects of its care, but rather the unfolding and strengthening of the 
mental and bodily powers of the child conformably with nature and cir- 
cumstances. When this began to be held to be the province of the ele- 
mentary school, a new era broke upon it. Viewed in this its new and 
loftier position, it assumed a totally different aspect, and all relating to it 
required to be dealt with in a more serious and scientific manner. This 
salutary change of view respecting the real character and destiny of the 
elementary school, though long in progress, became at length universal, 
chiefly through the genius and exertions of^ Pestalozzi, whose principles, 
even where only partially adopted, facilitated and infused a new spirit 
into the processes of teaching." 



124 PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN WIRTEMBERG. 

He proceeds to stale tliat, being called at that period to the duty of 
training schoolmasters, and therefore desiring to find some manual or trea- 
tise which embraced the entire subject, according to the enlarged views 
then entertained of it, he was unable to meet with any that satisfied his 
wishes. Those that he found, either merely embodied the old views or 
contained fragments only of the new. After many fruitless attempts to 
compose out of those fragments something that would serve as a ground- 
work for his course of teaching, he found himself compelled to form a trea- 
tise for himself; which has grown, with the experience of twenty years, 
into the valuable " Introduction," now widely known by his name. The fol- 
lowing is the summary of his introductory course of instruction to teachers : 

Part I. 

Chap. 1. Man as an organized, sentient, and intellectual being. 

2. Constitution and qualities of the body and mind. 

^ 1. Of the body. ^ 

^ 2. Of the mind and its principal faculties. 

A. The feelings. 

B. The understanding. 

C. The will. 

Union of the highest powers in a Christian faith. 

Varieties of natural constitution and disposition, and their causes. 

3. On the liability of the faculties and disposition of childhood to take a wrong 

direction. 

4. On the natural course of development in childhood, boyhood, and youth. 

^ 1, On the gradual development of the mental powers. 

5. Man in his social state. 

6. Man as an immortal being. 

p.\ET n. 

1. On education in general. 

2. On the training of the body. 

3. On the training of the mind. 

1^ 1. On the regulation of the feelings. 

^ 2. On the strengthening of the understanding. 

Observation and attention. 

Imagination. 

Memory. 

Judgment. 
^ 3. On the regulation of the will. 

The moral sense. 

Force of habit. 

The love of what is right. 

Obedience. 

Perseverance. 

Order and punctuality. 
^ 4. Religion — The best means of fixing religious impressions on the mind 
of a child. 

4. On educating boys and girls together. 

5. On rewards and punishments. 

6. On elementary instruction. 

(J 1. Subjects — On the proper periods for commencing each, 
^ 2. Method— The synthetic. 

Requisites of good teaching. 

Apparatus, &c. 

In his second volume, the author enlarges on some of the principles laid down in the 
first, and on the spirit and object of the primary school, the best modes of organization 
and management, &c. The third and remaining volumes form a School Manual of four 
complete " courses," for children between the respective ages of six and eight; eight and 
ten, ten and twelve, twelve and fourteen. The subjects treated of at length, for the guid- 
ance of teachers, are object lessons, instruction in reading, writing, and ciphering, reli- 
gious instruction, grammar and etymology, geography, elements of geometry, singing, 
elements of natural philosophy and natural history, composition, &c. General exposi- 
tions of the principles to be kept in view, and the ends to be aimed at, are given, together 
with specimens of the lessons in detail, and the substance of a useful course under each 
head. 



NORMAL SCHOOLS 



HESSE-CASSEL, AND NASSAU. 



The Electorate of Hesse-Cassel, with a population of 750,000 inhabi- 
tants, has three seminaries for teachers, viz.: at Fulda, Homberg and 
Schluchtern. 

The course of instruction embraces three years, and each seminary re- 
ceives sixty pupils, who are divided into two classes. The division of 
time and allotment of studies in one of the best of these seminaries in the 
eumraer of 1839, may be seen on the opposite page. 

NASS.\U. 

The Duchy of Nassau, with a population of 420,000, supports one 
Teachers' Seminary at Idstein, which in 1846 had 154 pupils. The course 
lasts five years, four of which are devoted to a regular course of instruc- 
tion in a thorough review of the studies pursued in the elementary schools 
and the acquisition of studies which facilitate and illustrate the teaching 
of the former, and the fifth, exclusively to the principles and practice of 
education. Pupils are admitted at the age of fourteen years. The hbrary 
of the institution is free to teachers in any part of the Duchy, and the 
tooks are forwarded and returned by the government post without charge. 
In 1836 the government expended 3,596 thalers toward the expenses of 
board and lodging of the pupils. 



The Kingdom of Hanover, with a population of 1,790,000, supports 
seven Teachers' Seminaries. One of these, established in 1848, is devoted 
to the education of Jewish teachers. The course embraces three years, 
and, in addition to the studies and exercises embraced in the seminaries 
for Protestant and Catholic teachers, includes the study of Hebrew, the 
Old Testament, and the commentaries of Hebrew scholars on the same. 
This is a practical religious toleration beyond any thing seen in the rest 
of Europe. One of the seminaries is designated as the Chief Seminary, 
and receives as pupils only those who have already taught school. 

The practice of "boarding round," which constitutes one of the distin- 
guishing marks of a bad state of public education, still prevails to some 
extent in Hanover. " I confess with shame," said a Director of a Teach- 
ers' Seminary in Hanover, to Professor Stephens, now of Girard College of 
Orphans, -'that this relic of barbarism may still be seen in a few villages 
of the kingdom, but it must soon vanish before the light which a well- 
educated class of teachers is diffusing among the people." This " relic 
of barbarism," necessarily disappears, where the business of teaching be- 
comes a profession, and the teacher becomes permanently employed in 
the same place. 

MECKLENBURG SCHWERIN. 

The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin, with a population of 
515,000, supports two seminaries, viz. : at Ludwigslust, and Rostock. 
The last is in connection with the University, and embraces a course of 
three months for students of Theology, who wish to be appointed tem- 
porarily to situations as teachers. 



126 



NORMAL SEMINARY AT SCHLUCHTERN. 



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BAVARIA. 



Bavaria is divided into eight provinces, 230 chief towns, 351 market 
towns, and 15,120 villages and parishes. 

The administration of public instruction is committed to four bodies, as 
follows : 1. A local committee for each school, appointed by the com- 
mittee for each province, after consultation with the district committee. 
2. A district committee for each town and village. 3. A provincial com- 
mission for all of the schools of each province, one of whom only is paid, 
and he must be a councilor of state. 4. A chief or head commission of 
four persons residing at Munich, one of whom is paid, and two of whom 
must be laymen. At the head of this commission is the Minister of Wor- 
ship and Public Instruction. The second, third and fourth committees are 
appointed by the king, who also appoints from time to time special inspec- 
tors. The effective management of the schools is with the provincial 
commission. The special inspectors appointed by the king, are selected 
from this board. 

All parents must send their children to some school, public or private, 
from six to fourteen years of age, or be fined. The support of the schools 
is borne by parents (varying from seventy-five cents to $1,50 per year in 
quarterly payments, for each child ;) by a local and provincial tax, voted 
by each district and province ; and by the state, which appropriates about 
$300,000 annually, in aid of local and parental efforts. The rate paid by 
parents and by districts, is collected with the ordinary taxes. 

The course of instruction is the same as in the primary schools of other 
states of Germany. Religious instruction is given to the children on sta- 
ted days and hours. If a school is composed of scholars belonging to dif- 
ferent sects, the religious instruction is given by the pastor of each sect. 

Every school according to law must have a small nursery-garden un- 
der the care of the teacher, where the pupils may learn the mode of treat- 
ing trees and plants. Out of 6065 German schools, it appears from the 
official reports that 5284 had such grounds attached. 

By a regulation adopted in 1836, every teacher appointed to a public 
school, must have qualified himself at one of the Normal Schools. There 
are seven of these institutions now in operation, viz. : five for Catholic 
teachers, at Bamberg, Eichstadt, Speyer, Keiserslautern, and Lauingen ; 
two for Protestant teachers, at Altdorf and Schwabach. 



128 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN BAVARIA. 

The oldest Seminary is at Bamburg. It was founded in 1777, as a 
Normal School, according to the meaning at that time conveyed by this 
designation, — that is, a model or pattern school, to which teachers resorted 
for observation, and a temporary course of lectures, and was raised into a 
seminary, composed of teachers, in 1791. The course of instruction iu 
1846, Avas as follows : 

1. Religion, — explanation of the catechism, Bible History, and sacred 
songs. 

2. German Language, speaking, reading and writing. 

3. Geography, including Natural History, and History. 

4. Arithmetic. 

5. Drawing and Geometry. 

>^. Penmanship, with constant exercises in composition. 

7. Music, vocal and instrumental. 

8. Pedagogics, general principles of education, methods of instruction, 
discipline, and administration of school affairs. 

The number of pupils in 1844 was thirty-one, for whom there were three 
permanent teachers residing in the institution, and several teachers em- 
ployed in special branches from the town. The pupils board in the Insti- 
tution, and are charged a small fee for the privileges of instruction, includ- 
ing board, lodging, tuition, &c., which is, however, reduced from time to 
time, in consequence of diligence and proficiency. It does not exceed 
$38 in any case. The course embraces two years. Out of study hours 
the pupils are under the special supervision of two of the instructors. 

For the Protestant teachers there are two seminaries, one at Altdorf- 
and the other at Schwabach. 

Jacobi, who was formerly inspector of the Seminary at Altdorf, and is 
now director of the new Protestant Seminary at Schwabach, published 
the following outline of a plan for a Seminary, in his Pedagogical Jour- 
ney in 1847, and which, we may now conclude, he is aiming to realize in 
the institution now in his charge. 

" For the location of a seminary I should choose a large town ; for, however 
much may be said in favor of country towns, there are in large towns more 
means of culture and teaching: teachers and pupils are more easily provided 
with board; the institution is subjected to a more constant and intelligent in- 
spection, and there is less exposure to a change of teachers, on account of the 
desirableness of a town residence to an educated man, and the facilities of edu- 
cation for sons and daughters. 

I would have a large, healthy and attractive building, without any thing re- 
pulsive in or about it, and in it there should be accommodations for the Direc- 
tor, a housekeeper, and sixty pupils. 

Each teacher should have his separate department: to one teacher should be 
assigned Religion, pedagogic and didactic ; to another, German Language, lite- 
rature and history; to a third, Realia, (natural science,) arithmetic, penmanship, 
and drawing; and to a fourth, the whole course of musical instruction and 
practice. Each teacher must not only be master of his branch, but must have 
a practical power and skill to form future teachers in his department, without 
being obliged to call in aid from any other teachers. 

Every teacher should be adequately compensated, so as to give his whole 
time and soul to the institution, and he should rank with the professors in the 
gymnasia, and be subordinate only to the supervision of the highest govern- 
mental authority. 



PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN BAVARIA. 129 

Every teacher should exhibit sincere piety, exemplary conduct, a glowing 
zeal in the cause of education, and an enthusiastic attachment to the institu- 
tions of his country ; found always on the side of education, religion and his 
king, and above all, of his profession. The Director must be a good theolo- 
gian, and must be so thoroughly trained in every department of study pursued in 
the institution, as to be able to answer promptly the questions of the pupils; 
must be a good musician, and a ready and gifted speaker, so as to be able to touch 
the heart in leading the devotions and public exercises of the institution. He 
must also be a man of business habits, and possess a tact in governing and 
moving others to his purposes. To such a director I would cheerfully com- 
mit the charge of the seminary, and to whom all other teachers must be subor- 
dinate, so far as the impulse and direction of the instruction and exercises are 
concerned. 

I would be very cautious in introducing text books, which may afterward be 
followed exclusively by the pupils, when they become teacher.?. Every text 
book used in the school should be subjected to the sharpest competition and 
most rigid scrutiny, as to its principles and methods. 

The regulations of the Seminary should be few and general, leaving the de- 
tails of administration to the Director and a council of the teachers. It would 
be a matter of indifference to me, whether the pupils studied by themselves, or 
together, recited a particular study in the forenoon or afternoon, provided the 
best good of ail was secured, and the great end of the Institution realized in 
producing good men, sincere Christians, sound scholars, and faithful and able 
teachers. 

From time to time, the Institution should be visited by the highest authori- 
ties of the church and state, but not by subordinate and local school officers." 

Bavaria has a population of about 4,250,000. The Educational Insti- 
tutions consist of" 

3 Universities, viz., at Munich, with .... 1,329 students, 

" Erlangen, 300 

" Wurzberg, 408 

9 Lyceums, with 3,110 

24 Gymnasiums, 85,681 

32 Mechanics' Schools, 7,495 

70 Latin Schools, 

3 Polytechnic Schools, 493 

9 Normal Seminaries, 696 

6,065 German, or Common Schools, 556,239 

One Institution for the blind ; one Institution for deaf mutes; one Col- 
lege or Higher Seminary for young ladies; one Academy of science; 
one School for artists. 



131 



GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN. 



There are four Normal Schools, or seminaries for teachers, in the Grand 
Duchy of Baden, viz. : at Carlsruhe, Ettingen, Meersburg, and Miillheim. 
Before giving a brief outline of the course of instruction pursued in the 
Normal School at Carlsruhe, we will give a condensed analysis of the plan 
upon which the primary schools of Baden are organized — drawn from the 
laws and ordinances now in force. The Grand Duchy is one of the most 
advanced constitutional states of Germany, and one the best provided with 
educational institutions. 

With a population in 1844 of 400,000, there were — 

Two Universities — one at Heidelberg, with 710 students. 
" at Freiburg, " 485 " 

Four Lyceums, or High Schools — a grade below the University. 

Six Gymnasiums — devoted mainly to high classical instruction. 

Six Pedagogiums, or Schools preparatory to the Lycea. 

Fourteen Latin Schools — preparatory to the Gymnasium. 

Eight Seminaries for young ladies. 

Four Normal Schools — one at Carlsruhe, for Protestant teachers. 

Catholic « 

One Institution for the deaf mutes. 

One Veterinary School. 

One Polytechnical School, with 200 pupils. 

One Trade School. 

One Military Academy. 

2121 Common Schools, each with different grades or classes. 

School Authorities and Inspection. — These institutions are all under 
the general supervision of the State, from which they receive in some form 
aid annually. Their supervision is committed to the Department of the 
Interior, subordinate to which there exists an Education Department or 
Council, consisting of one member for each of the four districts or circles, 
into which the State is divided. In all regulations respecting religious in- 
struction, the highest authorities of the Protestant and Catholic churches 
are consulted. 

For the primary schools, there is a School Board, or committee for each 
of the four districts, which must be consulted by the local school authorities 
in the founding of a new school, or suppression of an old one, and respect- 
ing all changes in the appointment of teachers. The board has the appoint- 
ment of a School Visitor for all the schools of the district, who holds his 
office six years, and is paid out of the State appropriation for educational 
purposes, and a School Inspector for the school or schools in each town and 
rural parish. 

The lowest school authority consists of the Inspector as chairman, the 



132 PRIMARY EDUCATION IN BADEN. 

mayor, or highest civil officer of the locality, the vestry of the parish among 
Protestants, the trustees of all ecclesiastical foundations in Catholic com- 
munities, and the directors of synagogues in Jevi^ish communities. These 
constitute a local or parochial school committee. In large tovi^ns, on special 
application, the State Education Department can appoint a special board to 
take charge of all the schools, and of any separate school for a particular 
religious denomination. 

School Attendance. — Children whose sixth year terminates between the 
23d of April of one year and the 23d of April of the year following, are 
bound to commence their schooling with Easter of the second year. A year 
is allowed where infirmity or similar disabling causes are proved to the sat- 
isfaction of the school authorities. 

The parish clergy, who keep the registers, have to furnish the school au- 
thorities with a list of all children whose schooling begins at the next fol- 
lowing Easter. To this a list is added of all children not born in the place, 
and which has to be drawn up by the school authorities. These lists are 
to be handed to the schoolmasters ; and one fortnight after the school ia 
opened, the schoolmaster has to return to the authorities the names of such 
children as attend the school, as well as those of the absent children. The 
latter are to be forced through the police to attend school, except where their 
absence is excused or explained for reasons hereafter to be stated. 

Children leave schools also at Easter. Boys on having completed their 
14th year, and girls their 13th year, or expecting to complete it before 25th 
April of that year. If by that period children who have attained these ages 
are not sufficiently advanced in the objects of instruction specified, they 
may be kept one or two years longer. Every scholar obtains a certificate 
on his leaving school. 

Children who have private instruction, or who attend higher institutions, 
for the purpose of obtaining better instruction, are free of the school, but 
require a certificate from the school inspectors. Private seminaries must be 
authorized by the upper school authorities. This authorization cannot be 
refused where the applicants are in every respect approved candidates aa 
masters ; but such establishments must make good the school money which 
they abstract from the regular schoolmaster. 

Every week the schoolmaster is required to give to the school authorities 
a list of such children as have been absent without leave, or who, having 
absented themselves, did not satisfactorily account for their so doing, to- 
gether with number of days' absence. This list is handed to the burgo- 
master, who forwards it to the parents of the children, and imposes a fine, 
varying from 2 kreutzers (^d.) to 12 kreutzers (8d.) for every day of non- 
attendance. 

Studies in Primary Schools. — The studies in the elementary schools 
are — 1. Religion. 2. German language. 3. Writing. 4. Arithmetic. 
5. Singing. 6. General instruction on subjects of natural history, natural 
philosophy, geography, and geometry ; also on points appertaining to health 
and to farming. 7. Where there are sufficient means, drawing is to be 
taught. The last-named subjects are to be treated in such a manner that 
the more essential first five points are not to suffer by the attention be- 
stowed upon them. 

Internal Organization of Primary Schools. — 1. Schools that have 
but one teacher are to be divided into three classes, to be counted from the 
lowest as first upward. 

In the summer half-year the third or highest class has two morning hours 
of schooling daily ; the second class has also two morning hours, and the 
first or lowest class has two hours in the afternoon. 

In the winter half-year the third or highest class has three morning hours 
of instruction daily. The second class the first afternoon hour alone, and 



PRIMARY EDUCATION IN BADEN. J 33 

the second in conjunction with the first class or beginners. One of these 
classes is to be employed in writing, under the inspection of a proper mon- 
itor selected from the scholars, while the other class is taught by the teacher. 
iOn half-holidays (Wednesday and Saturday) the morning hours, three in 
summer and four in winter, are to be proportionally divided among the three 
classes. 

2. When there are two teachers, the elder scholars are to be placed under 
one teacher and the younger half under the other. The school is then di- 
vided into four classes, each teacher taking two, and each class has instruc- 
tion for three hours daily, both in summer and in winter, excepting on half- 
holidays, when each class has but one hour and a half in the morning. 

If the number of pupils does not exceed 210, they may be divided into 
three classes, with the consent of the school authorities. If boys and girls 
are instructed simultaneously, the division indicated above, into higher and 
lower classes, each under a separate teacher. 

Where there are three teachers, one is to instruct the beginners in the 
two first classes. Where the upper classes are composed both of boys and 
girls, the elder pupils are under one teacher and the younger ones under the 
other, or the sexes may be separated. 

With four teachers, two distinct schools are formed, of four classes each, 
the arrangements being such as are already indicated. 

These arrangements, being fixed by the Education Department, in confer- 
ence with the parochial school authorities and the Inspector, may be modified 
to suit the exigencies and the means of larger towns or villages, provided 
that nothing be so arranged as to interfere with the rules that no class is to 
exceed 70 in number ; that each class is to have three hours' instruction 
daily, and the upper boys' class to have four in winter, with the exception 
of half-holidays, when the instruction is to be for them two hours, and for 
the others half hours. 

In places where industrial schools for girls are established, no change in 
these arrangements is to be made in consequence. Changes made, in con- 
sequence of the aid of an assistant being required from the ill health of the 
master, or an increase in the number of children, are to be reported to the 
Inspector, who will report upon them when submitting the results of his in- 
spection to the Education Department. 

3. The advance of children from one class to another takes place after the 
examination, with the approval of the Inspector, and with due regard to the 
age and natural powers of the pupils. When the parents do not consent, a 
child can only be required to continue at school beyond the legal age on an 
authorization of the Education Department through the Inspector. 

4. Care is to be taken that the pupils assemble punctually at the fixed 
hours, and they are clean in person and attire. They must also behave with 
propriety both on then* way to and from school and while at school. The 
injunctions concerning their conduct are to be publicly read to the pupils at 
the beginning of every half-year, and are to be hung up in every school-room. 

The pupils can be placed in their respective classes, according to their 
conduct and diligence, every week or month ; but in the first classes oftener, 
if the teacher thinks it advisable. 

Permission to absent themselves from a single lesson may be granted by 
the teachers ; for more than one, the permission must be obtained from the 
school Inspector. 

Punishments consist in reprimands, in giving a lower place in the class, in 
tasks after school hours, and, where obstinate persistence in faults is ob- 
served, in blows with a cane on the hand in a manner that is not dangerous. 
The teacher only takes cognizance of faults committed in school, or on the 
way to and from school. Bad conduct at other times is only punished at 
school when the parents and guardians palpably neglect their duty. 



134 PRIMARY EDUCATION IN BADEN. 

5. The school-rooma should have ten feet in hight, and he built on a 
scale of six square feet to a pupil. 

Plan of Instruction. — The aim of the primary school is to cultivate 
the intellect of the child, and to form his understanding and religious pria- 
ciples,as well as to furnish him with the knowledge requisite for his station 
in life. Instruction must, therefore, be imparted in such a manner as shall 
improve the mind. 

The pupil must have his attention sharpened, and his intellectual energies " 
must be brought into activity. He must learn nothing mechanically. The 
memory must not be cultivated, except in connection with the understand- 
ing and the feelings. The formation of every idea is to be preceded by the 
requisite insight into its fundamental principle, whether exemplified by ob- 
jects or figuratively. In all explanations the elementary principles must 
precede the complex views. What has been learnt must be made familiar 
by frequent application and illustration. The instruction given in the differ- 
ent classes must correspond with the plan here laid down. 

Religious Instruction. — Care must be taken that the lesson in religion 
does not degenerate into a mechanical learning of sayings and of chapters 
from the Bible. The pupil's insight into all points must be clear and well 
grounded ; his feelings must be roused, and his good propensities must be 
confirmed. 

The nature of the instruction given in religion is to be regulated in detail 
by the highest authority in the various confessions ; it is to be communicated 
through the catechism and school books approved by these authorities and 
sanctioned by the State. In this lesson the duties of the citizen are to be 
enforced. 

The school is to open and close daily with a short prayer or hymn, and 
the children are to be kept to regular attendance at church, the subject of the 
last sermon being a matter for the catechiat to examine them upon. 

Grammatical Instruction. — Grammatical instruction must be connected 
with exercises in correct thinking, as well as in the fittest mode of giving 
expression to thoughts. The consideration of the correctness of an idea 
must precede that of the mode of expressing it. 

The organs of speech must be exercised until completely formed, and a 
due modulation of the voice must be cultivated. The writing lesson must 
teach neatness and a love of form. 

Arithmetical Instruction. — Comprises the four rules, preceded by proper 
explanation of the properties and nature of figures, and simultaneously ex- 
ercised, mentally and in writing. The mental calculation is to precede the 
written sum on all occasions. After practicing the rules in whole num- 
bers, fractions, and with given simple or compound quantities in examples 
applicable in common life. 

In the second class the construction of simple geometrical figures is to 
be taught both to boys and girls. In the highest class the use of the square 
and compass, and the mode of reducing to proportionate dimensions, is to 
be tiiught. 

Musical Instruction. — The classes range as follows : — 

First class. — Exercises of the ear and the voice. Simple solo airs. 
Second class. — Duets and easy chorus singing. 
Third class. — Chorus and ornamental singing. 

General Instruction. — In natural history and philosophy, geography, his- 
tory, sanitary points, and agriculture, will be imparted by the pieces selected 
in the reading-books, and can be enforced and illustrated by additional ex- 
amples and reasoning on the part of the teacher. 

Division of Time. — Half an hour daily must be devoted to religious in- 
struction, but this time may be prolonged or abridged, according to the 
Biibject-matter treated of. 



PRIMARY EDUCATION IN BADEN. I35 

The study of the mother-tongue, combined with reading and writing, is 
to occupy a portion of six days in t]\e week, in addition to copies to be 
written out of school hours. Arithmetic is to be taken four times, and 
singing twice in the week. Instruction in matters of general interest is to 
be given to the second class once and to the highest class three times in 
the week. 

The plan of the school is to be arranged between the teachers and the 
Inspector for every half-year, and a draft of it must be laid before the school 
authorities once a year, together with the results of the inspection. When 
the children appear behindhand in particular points of instruction, more time 
must be appropriated to those in the following year. 

If the scholars of one school be of different religious confessions, care is 
to be taken that they receive their religious instruction at the same hour. 
If the school belong exclusively to one confession, but is also attended by 
children of another confession, the instruction in religion must be fixed in 
the last hour of attendance, that such as do not participate in it may go 
home, or wherever such instruction may be provided for them. 



136 



NORMAL SEMINARY AT CARLSRUHE. 



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AUSTRIA. 



Austria has a system* of education which, from the village school to the 
university, is gratuitously open to all, and which, in all its departments, is 
based on religion, and governed and molded by the State. Its universality 
is secured not by du-ect compulsion, as in Prussia, but by enactments which 
render a certificate of school attendance and educational proficiency neces- 
sary to exercise a trade, or be employed as a workman,f to engage in the 
service of the State in any capacity, or to be married. Besides this, it is made 
the interest of the wealthy landholders to contribute liberally for the educa- 
tion of their tenants and the poor, by throwing upon them the support of 
the pauper population. 

All the institutions for education are under the supervision of a Board or 
Council (the Hof-studien Commission) at Vienna, composed of laymen ap- 
pointed by the crown, and at the head of which a Minister of Public Instruc- 
tion was placed in 1848. It is the duty of this body to investigate all com- 
plaints against these institutions ; suggest and prepare plans of improve- 
ment, and counsel the crown in all matters referred to them. Under them 
is a graduated system of superintendence, to be exercised jointly, by the 
civil and spiritual authorities in the various subdivisions of the empire. 
The bishop and his consistory, jointly with the landestelle, has charge of all 
the scholastic institutions of the diocese ; the rural dean, jointly with the krei- 
samt, of those of a district ; the parochial incumbent, and the civil commis- 
sary, those of a parish. This general arrangement has reference to the 
Catholic establishment ; but the proper authorities of the Protestant, Greek, 
and Hebrew churches are substituted for those of the Catholic, for all that 
regards the members of their several communions. 

There are six classes of schools subjected to the superintendence of the 
education-board ; namely, the popular, the gymnasial, the philosophical, the 
medico-chirurgical, the juridical, and the theological. The four last of these 
form separately the objects of various special institutions ; and, combined 
together, they constitute the four faculties of the universities. 

The gymnasium is the school for classical learning, mathematics, and ele- 
mentary philosophy. 

The popular schools comprehend the establishments of various degrees, 
in which instruction is imparted of a more practical character, to those whose 
station in life does not fit them for the study of the learned languages. The 
lowest of these are the volks-schulen, or, as they are often termed, the trivial 
or the German schools, established, or intended to be established, in every 
district or parish of town or county, for the primary instruction in religion 

* The following account, of the educational system oi Austria Is abridged mainly from Tuni- 
bull's Austria, published during the present year in I^ondon. Some of the statistics are from 
Hawkins's Germany. 

f Turnbull mentions an instance of a large manufacturer in Bohemia, who was fined for em- 
ploying a workman not provided with the requisite certificates of education. 



138 PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN AUSTRIA. 

and morality, reading, writing, and accounts. In the larger places are also 
numerous wpfer schools, haupt-schulen, wherein a somewhat more extended 
education is given, for persons designed for the mechanical arts and other 
similar pursuits. These have an upper class called Wiederholungs-schulen, 
or Repetition Schools, who receive instruction in drawing, elementary geom- 
etry, and geography, and with it is combined a Normal School for teachers 
in the volks-schulen. In the larger towns are also commercial academies, 
termed real-schulen, in which are comprised two divisions of scholars : the 
one general, receiving instruction in accounts, geography, and history ; the 
other special, having, in addition thereto, teachers in book-keeping and the 
principles of trade for mercantile pupils, in natural history and rural econo- 
my for those intended for agricultural life, in mathematics, chemistry, and 
principles of art for students in the higher arts, and in various foreign lan- 
guages, especially English, French, and Italian, for those who may desire to 
receive such instruction. In the volks-schulen girls are taught, except in rare 
instances, in separate rooms from the boys ; and for the superior instruction 
of females there are distinct establishments corresponding with the haupt- 
schulen and real-schulen of the boys, many of them managed and directed 
by certain communities of nuns, which are especially preserved for the pur- 
pose of education. Industrial schools of various kinds, and for both sexes, 
are also in some parts combined with these more general educational insti- 
tutions ; but the expenses attending such establishments prevent their being 
very numerous. 

The establishments thus last described constitute the class of popular 
schools. The next above these are the gymnasial ; of which there are one, 
or two, or several, in each district, according to the extent of its population. 
The pupils of the gymnasium are "divided into several classes: the earlier 
ones are taught in religion, moral philosophy, elementary mathematics and 
physics, and Latin philology. To these subjects are added, for the more 
advanced classes — partly as perfect courses at the gymnasium, and partly 
as introductory to the higher instruction in the same branches at the lyceum 
or university — general history (and especially that of Austria), classical lit- 
erature, Greek philology, ajsthetics (namely, rhetoric, poetry, and a knowl- 
edge of the fine arts), and the history of philosophy. Above the gymna- 
sium are the eight universities of Prague, Vienna, Padua, Pavia, Lemberg, 
Grat^, Olmutz, and Innspruck ; to which must be added the Hungarian uni- 
versity at Pesth. These are divided into two orders — those of Prague, Vi- 
enna, Padua, Pavia, and Pesth, are of the first, having chairs for all the four 
faculties of theology, law, medicine, and philosophy ; the others have a 
smaller number — as, for instance, Gratz, which has but three, having no pro- 
fessorship of medicine, and Lemberg, which has only two. In furthei' ad- 
dition, according to circumstances and localities, professorships are estab- 
lished, either at the gymnasium, the lyceum, or the university, in the Italian 
and Oriental languages, in theoretical agriculture, astronomy, chemistry, 
mechanics, and other branches of practical science. 

In most of the provincial capitals, where no university exists (in such 
towns, for instance, as Linz, Laybach, Klagenfurt, &c.), there is an institu- 
tion, under the name of Lyceum, which answers the purpose of a minor uni- 
versity ; wherein public courses of lectures are given in some or all of the 
four faculties, and in other branches of knowledge. The degree cannot, in- 
deed, be taken at the lyceum in any of the faculties ; but certificates may 
be there obtained, which are accepted in lieu of those of the universities, 
for a large number of cases wliere certificates are required, and for youths 
who require them not, the education of the lyceum, extending as it does to 
the highest Greek and Latin classics, and natural philosophy, answers every 
purpose of general education. Of these lyceums, there are, in the empire, 
twenty-three under Roman Catholic direction ; besides eleven Protestant, 



PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN AUSTRIA. 



139 



Lutheran or Calvinist, and one Unitarian. For the instruction of the He- 
brew subjects there are gymnasiums and other schools, wherein the same 
books are read as in the general establishments of the empire, except only 
that works of Jewish are substituted for those of Christian theology. In 
special branches of knowledge, the government establishments are very nu- 
merous : medical and surgical academies, clerical academies, polytechnic 
schools, military institutions in all branches, and a college for the Eastern 
languages, &c. 

The popular schools are inspected and directed by the parochial incum- 
bent, who, with a view to this duty, is bound to receive instruction, previous 
to his induction to a benefice, in the system of scholastic management, or, 
as it is termed in the language of the edicts, the science of pccdagogy. He is 
required, at least twice a week, at certain fixed hours, to examine and cate- 
chise the pupils, and to impart to them religious instruction ; the parish or 
district being obliged to provide him with a carriage for that purpose, when 
the schools to be visited are distant from his residence. He orders removals 
from lower to higher classes, and grants those certificates, without which no 
pupil can pass from the popular school to the gymnasium. He is bound to 
render, periodically, statistical and discriminating returns on the state of the 
schools, both to his spiritual superior and to the kreisamt ; to urge on pa- 
rents the great importance of education to their offspring ; and to supply 
books to those who cannot aflford to purchase them, and clothes (so far as the 
poor fund or private contribution may enable him to do so) to such as, for 
want of clothing, are prevented attending the schools. Where children of 
different creeds are intermixed in one school, religious instruction and cate- 
chization is confined to the last hour of the morning and afternoon attend- 
ance, during which hour the non-Romanists are dismissed, to receive instruc- 
tion elsewhere from their respective pastors ; but where the number of 
non-Romanists is sufficiently great to support a separate school, the minister 
of that persuasion, whatever it may be, is charged exclusively with the same 
duties as, in the general schools, are imposed on the parish priest. To min- 
isters of all professions an equal recourse is, by the terms of the ordinances, 
allowed to the aid of the poor fund and of the grants from the kreisamt. If 
the schools be too distant or too numerous for the proper supervision of the 
local minister, a separate instructor is named by the bishop, or, if the school 
be Protestant, by the provincial superintendent ; and, for the visitors of all 
denominations, the expense of a carriage is equally borne by the public. 
Except in the points above enumerated, the parochial minister has no power 
to act, but only to report ; in all those connected with defects or deficiencies 
of the buildings, he, in conjunction with the civil commissary, reports to the 
kreisamt, and in those of merely scholastic nature, as well as in the con- 
duct of the teachers, he addresses his remarks to the inspector of the dis- 
trict. 

The teachers at all the popular schools are required to produce testimo- 
nials from the Normal School at which they have been instructed, and re- 
ceive their appointment from the diocesan consistory, or from the provincial 
chief of any special religions for which they may be intended, but require 
in all cases the confirmation of the landestelle. They are provided with 
residences attached to the schools, together with fixed stipends during good 
health and good conduct, and are allowed superannuation pensions, which, 
if they shall have served for a period of ten years, are extended to their wid- 
ows, and to their orphans undei* fourteen years of age. 

Each district has an aufseher, or inspector (named by the bishop from 
among the parochial clergy holding benefices therein), who compiles detailed 
statements on every point connected with education, for his spiritual supe- 
rior, and for the kreisamt. Once a year he makes a tour of personal inspec- 
tion, examines the pupils, distributes rewards to the best scholars, and super- 



240 PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN AUSTRIA. 

vises alike both the ministry and the teachers ; most especially enforcing the 
rule, that those books only shall be used, and those instructions only be 
given, which have been commanded by imperial edict. Above these district 
inspectors, each diocese has a higher officer, under the name of oberaufseher, 
or inspector-general, who is named by the crown, and is in most cases a 
member of the cathedral chapter. His supervision extends not to the volks- 
schulen only, but also to the real and the hawpt-schulen ; and for these pur- 
poses he is the disirici-inspecior for the city of his residence, and the inspect- 
or-general for the whole diocese. He is the official referee, whose opinion 
the consistory are bound to demand in every exercise of their educational 
functions, and by whom they are in fact principally guided ; since every 
matter wherein their sentiments may not agree with his, must be refen*ed 
to the decision of the landestelle. He examines and certifies teachers for 
appointment by the consistory ; receives quarterly statements in all details 
from his subordinate inspectors, and embodies them into general reports, 
for the landestelle and the crown; finally, as supervisor of spiritual in- 
struction, he examines candidates for orders, and novices for monastic vows, 
and grants certain testimonials of proficiency which are indispensable for 
their admission. 

To the episcopal consistories, headed by the bishop, is committed the 
general supervision of all the scholastic concerns of the diocese, the regu- 
lations of matters of discipline, the communication of instruction, and the 
investigation of delinquencies. It is a part of their functions to order the 
erection of schools, to appoint the teachers, to authorize the payment of 
pensions to teachers in sickness or in age, and to their widows and orphans, 
when entitled to them ; but in these points, as in all others which involve 
any exercise of real authority, patronage, or influence, their acts are invalid 
without the confirmation of the landestelle. For the professors of non- 
Romanist creeds, these respective functions are discharged in their several 
gradations by officers of their own persuasion. The Protestant seniors and 
superintendents are the district-inspectors and the provincial inspectors-gen- 
eral for their respective communities; and the functions of the diocesan 
consistories are transferred to the central Calvinistic and Lutheran consist- 
ories at Vienna. 

The schools of higher degree, the Gymnasium, the Lyceum, the Theo- 
logical Seminary, and the University, are all, as well as the popular schools, 
more or less subjected to the supervision of the diocesan and his consistory; 
but these depend more immediately on the educational board at Vienna. 
Over each of them presides a director, who is charged with the general man- 
agement, in point both of discipline and instruction, acting under the orders 
of the board, or the edicts of the emperor. The various professors and 
teachers are all either named or approved by the landestelle, or the educa- 
tional board ; the same discriminating precautions being adopted as at the 
popular schools, for the religious instruction of those who profess non- 
Romish creeds. In every station, and in the various branches of education, 
the pupils are subjected to half-yearly examinations by authorized visitors ; 
and from the result of these examinations, as well as from the testimonials 
which each is bound to produce as to moral conduct, and also as to religioua 
knowledge from the minister of his communion, the director forms the re- 
ports which are furnished to the government. 

For the erection of popular schools, certain rules are laid down which in- 
sure their erection as occasion may require. Although no ordinances com- 
pel education, yet the inducements held out to desire it are so great, that for 
schools of this description there is a constantly increasing demand, partly 
arising from the people themselves, and partly instigated by the spiritual and 
civil authorities ; and, indeed, so urgent have of late years been applications 
to this effect, that it has become a usual, although not universal practice, to 



PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN AUSTRIA. 141 

require of the parishioners, or the inhabitants of the district petitioning, that 
they shall bind themselves by voluntary assessment to bear the whole or a 
portion of the attendant expenses. After the locality has been fixed by the 
aufseher and the kreisamt, it depends on the landestelle to issue the decree 
that the school be built ; and, tiiia being done, the law then provides for its 
gratuitous erection and completion. The lord of the soil is bound to grant 
the land and the materials ; the inhabitants of the district to supply the la- 
bor ; and the patron of the parochial benefice the internal fittings-up ; all 
subsequent repairs, as well as the hiring of buildings for temporary accom- 
modation, being a charge on these three parties jointly. 

Notwithstanding, however, these ample provisions for general education, 
it will be readily conceived, that in a country where certain classes possess 
large pecuniary means and high aristocratic feelings, instruction cannot be 
absolutely confined to public institutions. In Vienna and other cities, many 
academic establishments of a superior order exist, endowed in the manner 
of our public schools ; and in these, or in the schools of the monasteries be- 
fore mentioned, wherein boarders are permitted to be received, or, finally, 
under private tutors in their own fomilies, a large portion of the higher 
classes receive their education. 



142 



PRIMARY EDUCATION IN AUSTRIA. 



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SUPERIOR EDUCATION IN AUSTRIA. 



143 



TABLE n.— INSTITUTIONS OF SECONDARY AND SUPERIOR 
EDUCATION. 




No. 


Pro. 

fessors. 


Students. 


Outlay. 


Buraar- 
shipa. 


Endow- 
roents. 


Universities. 




71 
28 
24 
63 
26 
41 

"60 
4(1 


4,718 
876 
317 

3,341 
640 

1,403 

' Lsie 

1,260 


florins. 

165,671 
25,372 
25,053 
66,864 
29,525 
53,593 

80,821 
98,646 


256 
47 
52 
55 

112 

48 

"24 


florins. 

21,583 
1,267 
3,593 
3,065 
5,600 
4,480 

' 4,266 


Gratz . 






Ollmutz 




Peslh 






Total (without Hungary) 


9 


353 


13,871 


545,545 


594 


43,788 


Lycba. 
Salzburg, with Theol., Philos., and Medicine 
Linz " " « " 
Lai bach " « « " 
Klagenfurth « " « 
Klausenburg " " " 


5 


20 
12 
23 
14 
14 


212 
167 
299 
171 
330 


23,465 

12,090 

22,160 

4,624 

8,810 


7 
10 
39 
26 


455 

362 

2,294 

1,409 


83 


1,179 


71,149 


82 


4,520 




Seminaries for Divines. 


1 
1 
1 
1 

2 

1 
1 
1 

1 


5 
6 
6 

7 

8 

5 
9 

7 

1 


59 

8 
8 
9 

156 

31 
30 
46 
60 


17,007 

2,650 

4,193 

3,010 

4,765 

15,128 

180 


30 


2,400 








Tarnow ) 


Przemysl \ 










10 


54 


409 


46,933 


30 


2,400 






25 

31 
10 

116 
14 


166 

195 
29 

899 
89 


3,192 

3,508 
429 

25,458 
2,451 


127,089 

248,151 

21,775 

505.350 
12,963 


38 

163 
21 

446 
13 


2,140 

29,097 
2,026 

20,515 

72 


GymnasiaS (Grammar-schools) \ pro^g^'tant 

Total cost of the higher establishments for 
education, without including Hungary . . 


198 


1,378 


35,038 


915,328 


681 


53,850 


222 


1,868 


50,497 


1,578,955 


1,387 


104,558 


* 2 at Presburg ; 2 Raab ; 1 Agram, Debreczin, Eperies, Erlau, Grosswardein, Kasmark, 
Cashau, Oedenburg, Papa, Saros-Patak. 

t At Kerestur and Torda. 

J At Kreras, Kremsmunster, GOrz, Trent, Budweis, LeitomischI, Pilsen, Brunn, Nikolsburg, 
Przemysl, Tarnopol, Czernowitz, Zara, Milan, Brescia, Cremona, Mantua, Bergamo, Como, 
Lodi, Venice, Verona, Udine, Vicenza. 

In Hungary, at Steiu am Auger and Szeyechin, 2. 

1 Hungary has 67 Catholic and 13 Protestant Gymnasia. 

The Mining Academy at Schemnitz has 7 Professors, 233 Students : it costs 11,500 florins, 
and has 55 Bursarships endowed with 11,000 florins annually. 



144 



SUPERIOR EDUCATION IN AUSTRIA. 



















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SYSTEM 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN AUSTRIA. 



In the school system of Austria, a Normal School is a pattern or model 
school, which is the primary signification of the word Normal. Of this 
class of schools there is one in the principal town in each province, and 
also in the chief town of each circle. In these Normal Schools the older 
boys who have passed through the course of instruction in the elementary 
and superior schools, and shov/ a peculiar desire or fitness for the busi- 
ness of teaching, are arranged in a class for special instruction in a course 
of pedagogy. The course embraces a review of the studies pursued in 
the elementary schools, lectures on the principles of education, and the 
art of teaching, and practice as assistants in the lower classes of the 
schools. The time occupied by the course of study and practice varies 
from six months to two years — being longer in the provincial head school, 
than in the head school of the circle. There are twenty hours devoted 
in each week to the course, which are distributed as follows : 

Pedagogy, 3 hours. 

Methods of Religious Instruction, 2 '• 

Higher Arithmetic, •• . 3 " 

Writing and Drawing, 3 " 

Exercises in Composition, 2 " 

Geography, 1 " 

Physical Education, 3 " 

Vocal and Instrumental Music, 3 " 

No one is allowed to teach unless he has gone through a course of 
Normal School training, either in the head school of the province or the 
circle. This system of training teachers was first introduced by order 
of Maria Theresa, in 1771, under the personal supervision of Felbinger, 
who was invited from Silesia for this purpose. The experiment was 
commenced in the school connected with the convent of St. Stephen, in 
Vienna, and the teachers of the city and suburbs were assembled and 
instructed in the new methods of teaching pursued in Prussia. This 
school received, in 1772, the privilege of publishing all school books used 
in schools on the crown lands of Austria, which was, in 1773, extended 
over the empire. The profits of this monopoly were set apart for the sup- 
port of a Normal teacher in the head school (the best primary superior 
school) of each province. 

The mode of training teachers does not satisfy the best educators of 
Austria. It gives a routine knowledge of methods, but does not secure 
that mastery of principles, or that formation of thr pedagogical character, 

10 



146 NORMAL SCHOOLS OF AUSTRIA. 

which a three years' course of instruction and practice in a regularly consti- 
tuted Teachers' Seminary is so well calculated to give. The government 
has been frequently applied to for aid to erect one or more Teachers' 
Seminaries, on the plan of those in Prussia, but thus far without success. 

Calinisch, in his statistics of the schools in Germany, in Reden's Maga- 
zine for 1848, thus sums up the professional training of teachers, in Aus- 
tria: •' The pedagogical course in the provincial Normal Schools, which 
embraces four classes, continues six months, and in those with three classes, 
three months. In the universities and theological seminaries, there are 
lectures on pedagogy, and the methods of questioning children, and in 
two large boarding schools, one in Vienna, and the other at Hernal, in the 
neighborhood of Vienna, there is a course of special instruction for those 
young females who are destined for governesses in private families. In 
1842, an independent school or seminary for teachers was started in Salz- 
burg, with a two years' course, and with eighteen pupils. There is a 
Normal head school in Prague for teachers of Jewish schools." 

The Provincial Normal Head Schools are located as follows: — Vienna, 
Prague, Trieste, Salzburg, Inspruck, Graz, Gorz, Klagenfurt, Laibach, 
Linzj Brimn. 



SWITZERLAND. 



The following general outline of the educational institutions of Switzer- 
land, will be found to contain not only an interesting notice of the Normal 
Schools of that country, but also valuable hints respecting the compulsory 
attendance of children at school, and school inspection, as well as the re- 
lations of education to pauperism. It is abridged from a recent work by 
Joseph Kay, published by J. Hatchard and Son, London, 1816, entitled 
" 77je Education of the poor in England and Europe.'''' 

" Perhaps of all countries Switzerland offers the most instructive lesson 
to any one investigating educational systems and institutions. It is divi- 
ded into twenty-two independent cantons, each of which manages its own 
internal policy after its own peculiar views ; so that the educational sys- 
tems of the several cantons differ very materially, whilst the federal gov- 
ernment which unites all, brings all into intimate connection one with 
another, and facilitates improvement, as the institutions which are found 
to work best are gradually adopted by all the different governments. 
Each canton being acquainted with the systems pursued by the others, 
the traveler is enabled, not only to make his own observations on the 
various results, but is benefited also by the conversation of men accus- 
tomed to compare what is being done by their own government with 
what is being done by others, and to inquire into the means of perfecting 
their educational systems. 

But the advantage to be derived from an investigation of the various 
efforts made by the different cantons, is still further increased by the fact 
of their great difference in religious belief Thus, the population of the 
canton of Vaud, for example, is decidedly Presbyterian, — that of Lucerne 
is almost exclusively Roman Catholic, whilst those of Argovia and Berne 
are partly Protestant and partly Roman Catholic. Not only, therefore, 
does the traveler enjoy the advantage of studying the educational sys- 
tems of countries professing different religious creeds, but the still greater 
one of witnessing the highly satisfactory solution of the various difficulties 
arising from differences of religious belief existing under the same gov- 
ernment. 

The great development of primary education in Switzerland, dates 
from 1832 or 1833, immediately after the overthrow of the old aristocrati- 
cal oligarchies. No sooner did the cantonal governments become tho- 
roughly popular, than the education of the people was commenced on a 
grand and liberal scale, and from that time to this, each year has witness- 
ed a etill further progress, until the educational operations of the several 
governments have become by far their most weighty and important du- 
ties. 

Throughout all the cantons, with the exception of Geneva, Vallais, and 



148 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. 

three small mountainous cantons on the Lake of Lucerne, where the popu- 
lation is too scanty and too scattered to alloAV of the erection of many 
schools, education is compulsory ; that is, all parents are required by law 
to send their children to school from the age of six to the age of fourteen, 
and, in several cantons, to the age of sixteen. The schoolmasters in the 
several communes are furnished with lists of all the children in their dis- 
tricts, which are called over every morning on the assembling of school; 
the absentees are noted, and also the reasons, if any, for their absence ; 
these lists are regularly examined by the inspectors, who fine the parents 
of the absentees for each day of absence. 

In some of the manufacturing districts, the children are permitted to 
leave school and enter the mills at the age of eleven, if they have then ob- 
tained from the inspectors a certificate of being able to read and write ; 
but they are obliged to attend a certain number of periodical lessons 
afterward, until they attain the age of fourteen or fifteen. In the canton 
of Argovia, however, which is one of the manufacturing districts of Swit- 
zerland, the children are not allowed to enter the mills until they attain 
the age of thirteen, and I was assured by several of the manufacturers of 
this canton, that they did not suffer any inconvenience from this regula- 
tion, although it had been warmly opposed at first by the commercial 
men. 

It ought to be remembered, that these laws are enforced under the 
most democratic forms of government. 

The people themselves require attendance at the schools, so conscious 
are they of the necessity of education to the encouragement of temper- 
ance, prudence, and order. 

In the cantons of Berne, Vaud. Argovia, Zurich, Thurgovia, Lucerne, 
and Schaffhouse, where this law is put into force most stringently, it may 
be said with truth, that all the children between the ages of seven and 
fifteen are receiving a sound and religious education. This is a most 
charming result, and one which is destined to rapidly advance Switzer- 
land, within the next eighty years, in the course of a high Christian civil- 
ization. One is astonished and delighted, in walking through the towns 
of the cantons I have mentioned, to miss those heart-rending scenes to be 
met with in every English town; I mean the crowdsof filthy, half-clothed 
children, who may be seen in the back streets of any of our towns, grovel- 
ing in the disgusting filth of the undrained pavements, hstening to the 
lascivious songs of the tramping singers, witnessing scenes calculated to 
demoralize adults, and certain to leave their impress on the susceptible 
minds of the young, quarreling, swearing, fighting, and in every way 
emulating the immorality of those who bred them. There is scarcely a 
town in England and Wales whose poorer streets, from eight in the morn- 
ing until ten at night, are not full of these harrowing and disgusting 
scenes, which thus continually show us the real fountain-head of our de- 
morahzed pauperism. In Switzerland nothing of the kind is to be seen. 
The children are as regularly engaged in school, as their parents are in 
their daily occupations, and henceforward, instead of the towns continu- 
ing to be, as in England, and as they have hitherto been in Switzerland, 
the hot-beds and nurseries of irreligion, immorality, and sedition, they will 
only afford still more favorable opp7jrtunities, than the country, of advanc- 
ing the religious, moral, and social interests of the children of the poor. 
How any one can wonder at the degraded condition of our poor, after 
having walked through the back streets of any of our towns, is a thing I 
never could understand. For even where there are any schools in the 
town, there are scarcely ever any playgrounds annexed to them ; so that 
in the hours of recreation the poor little children are turned out into the 
streets, to far more than forget all the moral and religious counsel given 
in the school. It is strange that we do not understand how invaluable 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZEHLAND. 149 

the refuge is, which a school and playground afford to the children of the 
poor, however indifferent the education given in the school. 

This small country, beautified but impoverished by its Alpine ranges, 
containing a population* less than that of Middlesex, and less than one- 
half its capital, supports and carries on an educational system greater 
than that which our government maintains for the whole of England and 
Wales ! Knowing that it is hopeless to attempt to raise the character of 
the education of a country without first raising the character and position 
of the schoolmaster, Switzerland has established, and at the present mo- 
ment supports, thirteen Normal schools for the instruction of the school- 
masters and schoolmistresses, whilst England and Wales rest satisfied 
with six ! Eleven of these schools are permanent, and are held during 
the whole of the year ; the remaining two sit only for about three months 
yearly, for the purpose of examining monitors recommended by the mas- 
ters of the primary schools, and desirous of obtaining diplomas to enable 
them to act as schoolmasters. In the majority of these schools the mem- 
bers of the different rehgious sects are received with a Avillingness and 
with a Christian charity, which puts to shame our religious intolerance. 
Nor does this liberality proceed from any carelessness about the religious 
education of the people, for no master can obtain, from his canton's gov- 
ernment, a diploma, to enable him to officiate as schoolmaster, without 
having first obtained from a clergyman of his own church a certificate of 
moral character and of competency to conduct the religious education in 
the school for which he is destined ; but it proceeds rather from a recog- 
nition of this great truth, that the cause of religion must be deeply injured 
by neglecting the secular education of the people, and from a Christian 
resolution in all parties to concede somewhat, for the sake of insuring 
what must be the foundation of all social improvement, the advancement 
of the intelligefice and morality of the people. M. Gauthey, a Presbyte- 
rian clergyman, and director of the Normal schools at Lausanne, M. 
Vehrli, director of the Normal school near Constance, the professors of the 
Normal school in Argovia, M. Schneider von Langnau, minister of public 
instruction in the canton of Berne, and M. Fellenberg. of Hofwyl, all 
assured me that they did not find the' least inconvenience resulting from 
the instruction of different sects in the same schools. Those who differ 
in faith from the master of the school are allowed to absent themselves 
from the doctrinal lessons given in the school, and are required to attend 
one of their own clergy for the purpose of receiving from him their doc- 
trinal instruction. 

Even in Fribourg, a canton governed by Catholic priests, Protestants 
may be found mingled with the Catholics in the schools, and are allowed 
to absent themselves during the hours of religious lessons ; and, in Argo- 
via, a canton which has lately so distinguished itself by its opposition to 
the Jesuits of Lucerne, I found that several of the professors in the Nor- 
mal school were Catholics, and that the utmost tolerance was manifested 
to all the Catholics attending the cantonal schools. 

The Swiss governments perceived, that if the powerful sects in the 
several cantons were to refuse education to the Dissenters, only one part 
of the population would be educated. They perceived also, that secular 
education was necessary to the progress of religious education, and that 
they could secure neither without liberality ; and therefore they resolved 
that all the children should be required to attend school, and tlaat all the 
Bchools should be opened to the whole population. 

In the canton of NeuchMel, they have no Normal school, but they 
choose their masters from the monitors of the primary schools, who are 
most carefully educated and trained by the masters of the primary schools 

* In 1316 the population of Switzerland was about 2,400,000. 



150 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. 

for their future important situations. Notwithstanding their greatest ex- 
ertions, however, to choose persons qualified for this most important post, 
I was assured by those interested in the progress of education in that can- 
ton, that they found the present system totally inadequate to the produc- 
tion of efficient masters, and that they felt that they must follow the ex- 
ample oi" the other cantons, and establish a permanent Normal school. 
In the cantons of Fribourg and Schaffhouse the Normal schools sit only 
during three months of the year, during which time they give lectures to 
those desiring to be schoolmasters, and examine the candidates before 
granting the diplomas. But so totally inefficient have they found this 
system, that Fribourg is about to establish a Normal school during the 
present year, and Schaffhouse has only been prevented from doing so by 
the want of sufficient funds. 

I was assured by the priests in the one canton, and by the Protestant 
clergy in the other, that they were fully convinced that no efforts on their 
part could insure good masters, unless they were aided by a sufficiently 
long religious, intellectual, and domestic training, under the eye of expe- 
rienced and trustworthy professors. 

Four of the Normal schools of Switzerland contain each from eighty- 
five to one hundred pupil-teachers; the rest average from forty to eighty. 

It may seem extraordinary to some that so small a country as Switzer- 
land should require so many schools for teachers, but the explanation is 
very simple. Switzerland is a poor country, and although it gives the 
schoolmaster a very honorable station in society, and regards him as next 
in dignity to the priests and clergy, it is not able to pay him very well, so 
that in many cases there is no other inducement to a schoolmaster to re- 
main long at his post, than the interest he feels in his profession. From 
this cause there is always a constant desertion from the ranks going on in 
some parts, and a consequent necessity for the preparation of a sufficient 
number to fill the vacant posts. If the masters were paid better, Swit- 
zerland would be able to dispense with two or three of its Normal 
schools. 

I should like to enter upon a description of the different Normal schools 
of Switzerland, were not that rather beside the purpose of this report ; 
but I cannot refrain from recording the unanimous opinion of the Swiss 
educators on two points connected with these schools. These are, the 
necessity of manual labor in connection with the instruction given in the 
schools, and the time which all are agreed upon as necessary to the per- 
fecting of a schoolmaster's education. On the latter point, all with whom 
I conversed assured me, that their experience had taught them that three 
years were absolutely necessary for the education of a master; that 
wherever less time had been tried, it had always been found insufficient ; 
and that in order that even three years should suffice, it was necessary 
that the young man entering the Normal school should have completed 
his education in the primary schools. 

With respect to the necessity of manual labor in a Normal school, opin- 
ions were hardly less unanimous. To the Bernese Normal schools, as well 
as to that at Kruitzlingen, conducted by Vehrli, the successor of Pesta- 
lozzi and Fellenberg, and to the Normal schools of Lucerne and SoUeure, 
lands have been annexed, which are farmed and cultivated by the pupil- 
teachers. They are sufficiently extensive, in five of these schools, to em- 
ploy all the young men in the Normal school at least two hours per diem in 
their cultivation. On these lands all the pupil-teachers, accompanied by 
their professors, and clothed in coarse farmers' frocks, with thick wooden 
sandals, may be seen toiling most industriously about the middle of the 
day, cultivating all the vegetables for the use of the household, as well as 
Bome for the neighboring markets, and could any one be taken among 
them at that perio<l of the day, he would imagine he saw before him a set 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. 151 

of peasants at their daily labor, instead of the young aspirants to the much 
respected profession of schoolmaster. 

Besides this labor in the fields, the young men are also required to 
clean their apartments, to take charge of their own chambers, prepare 
their own meals, besides keeping all the premises in good repair. Thus 
the life of the pupil-teacher in Switzerland, during the time he remains 
at school, is one of the most laborious nature. He is never allowed to 
lose sight of the manner of life of the class from which he was selected, 
and with which he is afterward required to associate. He is never 
allowed to forget that he is a peasant, so that he may not afterward feel 
any disgust in mingling with peasants. In this manner, they train their 
teachers in habits of thought and life admirably suited to the laborious 
character of the profession for which they are destined, and to the hum- 
ble class who will be their companions in after life. The higher the in- 
struction that is given to a pupil-teacher, the more difficult and the more 
important is it to cherish his sympathies for the humble and often degra- 
ded class among whom he will be called to live and exercise his important 
duties. 

In fact, as all the Swiss educators said, the great difficulty in educating 
a teacher of the poor is to avoid, in advancing his intelligence and eleva- 
ting his religious and moral character, raising his tastes and feelings so 
much above the class from which he has been selected, and with which 
he is called upon afterward to associate, as teacher, adviser, and friend, 
as to render him disgusted with his humble companions, and with the 
toilsome duties of his profession. In educating the teachers, therefore, 
far above the peasant class whom they are intended to instruct, the Swiss 
cantons, which I have mentioned, are very careful to continually habitu- 
ate them to the simplicity and laborious character of the peasant's life, so 
that, when they leave the Normal schools, they find that they have 
changed from a situation of humble toil to one of comparative ease. 
They do not therefore become dissatisfied afterward with their laborious 
employments, but are accustomed even from their cliildhood to combine 
a high development of the intellect and a great elevation of the character 
with the simplicity and drudgery of a peasant's occupations. 

Thus the Swiss schoolmasters live in their villages as the coadjutors of 
the clergy, associating with the laborers in their homes and at their fire- 
sides, whilst at the same time they exhibit to them the highly beneficial 
and instructive example of Christian-minded, learned and gentle peasants, 
living proofs of the benefits to be derived from possessing a properly edu- 
cated mind. 

I cannot deny myself the pleasure of giving Vehrli's opinion on this sub- 
ject. He said, 'Your object in educating a schoolmaster ought to be, to 
prepare a teacher of the people, who, whilst he is considerably elevated 
in mental acquirements above those among whom he will be obliged to 
mingle, shall theroughly sympathize with them by having been himself 
accustomed to hard manual labor. If you take pupil-teachers into your 
Normal schools, and content yourselves with merely cultivating their 
mental powers, you will find that, however carefully you tend their reli- 
gious instruction, you have educated men who will soon, despite them- 
selves, feel a disgust for the population with whom they must associate, 
and for the laborious duties which they will have to perform ; but if during 
the whole of their residence at the Normal school, you accustom them to 
hard and humble labor, when they leave, they wdl find themselves in 
higher and easier situations than when they were at school, they will 
sympathize with their poor associates, and feel contented and satisfied 
with their position.' 

In Argovia they have so strongly felt the truth of the above remarks, 
that they have resolved to adopt M. Vehrli's suggestions, and to annex- 



152 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. 

lands to their Normal school ; and in the canton of Vaud, where no labor 
is required from the pupil-teacher, I was assured that they had constant 
reason to complain of the dissatisfaction expressed by the teachers for 
their profession after leaving the Normal school. Nor is it only by means 
of agricultural labor that Vehrli endeavors to prepare his pupils ibr the 
honorable but arduous duties of their future lives. Nearly all the domes- 
tic concerns of his household are conducted by the pupil-teachers, and all 
assistance that is not absolutely necessary is dispensed with. Vehrli 
assured me that by these means the expenses of maintaining his Normal 
school were greatly diminished, as they sent to market all the surplus of 
their agricultural produce, and employed the proceeds in defraying the 
ordinary expenditure of the school. 

But whilst the Swiss cantons are thus careful to prepare the pupil- 
teacJiers Ibr the practical duties of their lives, they do not neglect their 
intellectual instruction ; as they are fully convinced that the instruction 
given in a village school by an ignorant man must not only be very mea- 
ger in kind, but very unattractive in character. In order to attain a cer- 
tain standard of instruction in a village school, the education of the master 
should be very much elevated above it; and in order to make the poor 
prize the village school, it is necessary that they should have a very high 
opinion of the character and learning of the teacher. 

The education given by these masters in the parochial schools includes, 
1. Religious instruction. 2. Reading. 3. Writing. 4. Linear drawing. 
5. 'Orthography and grammar. 6. Arithmeticand book-keeping. 7. Sing- 
ing. 8. The elements of geography, and particularly of the geography 
of Switzerland. 9. The history of Switzerland. 10. The elements of 
natural philosophy, with its practical applications. 11. Exercises in com- 
position. 12. Instruction in the rights and duties of a citizen. 

In the Catholic cantons, however, the instruction is generally confined 
to religious lessons, reading, writing, and arithmetic. 

No teacher is allowed to undertake the charge of a school, until he has 
obtained from the council of his canton, whose duty it is to examine can- 
didates, a diploma stating his capability of directing the education of a 
school. This diploma is only granted after a very severe examination, 
which the candidate must pass before he can become a schoolmaster. 
Besides this, he must have obtained a certificate of character from the. 
director of the Normal school in which he was educated, and in many 
cases another from a clergyman of his own sect, stating his capability of 
conducting the religious education of a school. This latter point is 
always strictly inquired into, either by the council of inspection, which 
examines the candidates, or by a clergyman of the sect of which the can- 
didate is a member. The character and abilities of the teachers are not 
considered in Switzerland as matters of small concern, but on the contra- 
ry, every precaution is taken to guard against the possibility of a man of 
low character or poor education obtaining such a post. It is happily un- 
derstood in the Swiss cantons, that such a schoolmaster is much worse 
than none at all. The influence of such an one on the young is demoral- 
izing in the extreme, and does infinite mischief, by creating in the minds 
of the children associations connecting the name of school with unhappy 
thoughts, and thus often actually engendering a spirit of hostility, not 
only against education, but also against the holy precepts which were 
professedly taught at school. 

I consider the very backward state of education in some of these can- 
tons, compared to the great progress it has made in others, as a satisfac- 
tory proof of the necessity of adopting a centralization system in prefer- 
ence to one leaving the direction of education to provincial governments. 
I know there are many in our own country who blindly cry out against 
ceotralization, not reflecting that the central government, as being the 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. 153 

richest and most powerful body, can most easily collect sufficient statistics 
on the comparative merits of different systems, and on the comparative 
results of different ways of teaching and managing a school, and that it 
affords a much greater security to the country than the best provincial 
governments can do, — that what is found to work best shall be speedily 
introduced throughout the country, and that education shall be univer- 
sally spread, instead of being greatly developed in one part of the country, 
and altogether neglected in another. 

Each canton in Switzerland is divided into a certain number of com- 
munes or parishes, and each of these communes is required by law to fur- 
nish sufficient school-room for the education of its children, and to provide 
a certain salary, the minimum of which is fixed by the cantonal govern- 
ment, and a house for each master it receives from the Normal school of 
the canton. These communal schools arc, in the majority of cases, con- 
ducted by masters chosen from the most numerous religious sect in the 
commune, unless there are sufficient numbers of the different rehgious 
bodies to require inore than one scliool. whea one school is conducted by 
ri master belonging to one sect, and the other by a master chosen from a 
different sect. The children of those parents, v/ho differ in religion from 
the master of the school, are permitted to absent themselves from the doc- 
trinal lessons, and are required to obtain instruction, in the rehgious doc- 
trines of their own creed, from clergy of their own persuasion. 

The inspection of the cantonal schools is conducted in the most satis- 
factory manner. Each canton has a board of inspectors, or council-gen- 
eral of instruction, which is presided over by the Minister of Public In- 
struction for the canton, and whose duty it is, to visit all the schools of the 
canton, once at least in the year, and to report on them individually to 
the government of the canton, as to the state of the schools themselves, 
as to the progress of the pupils, as to the character of the instruction given 
by the master, and as to the attendance of the children of the commune. 

But besides the cantonal board of inspectors, there is also in each com- 
mune a board of inspectors, who are elected annually from among the 
clergy and educated men of the commune, and who visit the communal 
schools at least once each year, and report to the Minister of Public In- 
struction for the canton, on the individual progress of the children in the 
communal schools. The head inspector of the canton of Solleure showed 
me samples of the handwriting, composition, accounts. &c., of all the chil- 
dren in the canton. By these means each schoolmaster is encouraged in 
his exertions, as he feels that the eyes of his canton are upon him, and that 
he is regarded as a most important public functionary, to whom is com- 
mitted a great and momentous trust, for the proper discharge of which it 
is but right his canton should receive constant assurance. 

By these means the different communes or parishes are immediately 
interested in the progress of their schools, whilst the government is insured 
against the possibility of a school being wholly neglected, as every school 
is sure of receiving one or two visits from the government inspectors, even 
if the parochial authorities should wholly neglect them, or should not pay 
them sufficient attention. 

This is the true theory of a system of inspection. There ought always 
to be a system of local inspection, because local authorities are able, when 
active, to discover better than any stranger can possibly do, the peculiar 
wants and requirements of their localities, as well as the real character 
of their teachers, and because a system of local inspection provides a- con- 
tinual check upon the schoolmaster ; but as persons, who have other and 
pressing duties upon their hands, and who are deeply engaged in busi- 
ness or in agricultural pursuits, are very likely to neglect at times, and 
often altogether, the important duty of attending to the schools of their 
neighborhood, and as schools, which receive no surveillance from persons 



154 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. 

qualified to judge of their particular merits or demerits, are always sure 
to degenerate, and are liable to become seriously demoralized ; and as, 
moreover, it is deeply important that every government, ibr the sake of 
social order and also for the sake of the happiness and morality of its sub- 
jects, should have every security that the people are really educated and 
not demoralized by a sinful sham of education, it is necessary that in 
every well-governed state, where the government takes any interest in 
the improvement of the people, there should be a central inspection of all 
the schools of the country, which should be supported and directed by 
the government. If government has not the power of examining every 
school, it can have no security that the children are not being absolutely 
demoralized, and that the seeds of futiire rebellion and sedition are not 
being sown in the village schools. In many of the neglected schools of 
England and Wales at the present day, this is actually the case, and just 
because the schoolmasters, in many instances, are never visited and 
watched by any person capable of judging of the moral condition of their 
schools. 

The development of the people's education in Switzerland and France 
is of far too recent a date to allow me to speak of its results. It is not in 
thirteen years that the habits, opinions, taste, and manners of a people can 
be changed. A change in a nation's character is not wrought in one 
generation; so that nothing can be more unfair than the language held 
by many persons on this subject. If any thing is said of French and iSwiss 
education, the answer is, ' Look at its results.' 'The people of these two 
countries are the most disaffected and turbulent in Europe.' I repeat, 
that nothing can be more unfair than this reasoning. The real develop- 
ment of education dates in both countries from 1833, so that but few of the 
age of thirty in either country can have reaped any advantage from it, 
and of those below thirty, many can not have been able to attend any good 
school lor more than two or three years, and many others not at all, whilst 
of those young men, who have enjoyed the advantages of attending a 
school directed by an able and efficient master, many must have received 
as much harm from the evil influence of demoralizing homes, as they have 
reaped benefit from the ennobling effect of the lessons and examples given 
them by a Christian and noble-minded schoolmaster. It is only when the 
corrupting influences of the old, ignorant, and demoralized generations 
have passed away, when the parents themselves have begun to estimate 
the advantages to be reaped from education, when the lessons of the 
teachers are backed by the lessons and examples of the parents, that the 
effects of education will begin to be apparent. This requires more than 
one generation, and much more than thirteen years ; and it is this very 
slowness in the working of an educational system, however perfect, which 
renders me the more anxious that we should speedily prepare for the 
coming future. 

Such is a short outline of the general character of the educational sys- 
tems of Switzerland. 

At the present time it may be truly said, that in nearly the whole ol' 
Switzerland, every boy and girl below the age of seventeen years, can 
read and write. The education of the girls is perhaps in a more satisfac- 
tory condition in the Catholic cantons than in the Protestant. It is confi- 
ded to the special care of the nuns, and I can bear testimony to the gentle, 
patient, and religious spirit in which these excellent women affectionately 
tend the progress of the young girls. The self-denying life which the 
Catholic nuns lead, and the excellent education they receive in the nun- 
neries, admirably suit them for the important duties confided to their 
charge in these cantons. After examining the schools conducted by some 
of the sisters in Fribourg, the abbess of the nunnery, to which the nuns 
who had the direction of the female schools belonged, allowed me, in com- 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. ^^55 

pany with a very intelligent priest, with whom I had been spending some 
days, to visit the nunnery. We went over it in company wilh one of the 
sisters. When I entered, I found myself in the presence of about twenty 
of the nuns, who, under the direction of a very venerable old abbess of 
about eighty years of age, were seated in the entrance-hall, engaged in 
making clothes for the poor. 

The apartments of the sisters were of the plainest possible description. 
They were in beautiful order, and perfectly clean ; but furnished very 
meagerly, and literally destitute of every thing that was not absolutely 
necessary. The sisters have no servants and no assistants. They pre- 
pare their own food, clean their own chambers, take charge by turns of 
the dining-room, hall, and room of the abbess, and, in fact, perform by 
turns all the humblest duties of domestic servants. They, at the same 
time, give a very excellent education to the young persons destined to 
take the veil, comprising reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, 
grammar, and singing. The novitiates are, therefore, in every way ad- 
mirably prepared for the duties of instruction, which they undertake after 
having taken the veil, whilst the humble life to which they are accus- 
tomed during the years of their novitiate, and during the rest of their 
lives, in turn with the other sisters, makes them admirably well qualified 
for intercourse with the poor, and renders them patient, gentle, and perse- 
vering in their efforts in the schools. They certainly are living examples 
of the class of teachers a good training is capable of producing. 

The condition of the peasantry in the Protestant cantons of Berne, Ar- 
govia, Vaud, Thurgovia, Neuchatel, Geneva. Basle, and Schaffhouse, and 
in the Catholic cantons of Solleure and Lucerne, is a very happy one. 
No beggars are to be seen in the.se cantons, and what is still more surpris- 
ing, no signs of pauperism. Their dress, though homely, is always good, 
free from patches, and clean. Their collages, though, from the smoked 
appearance of the timber, at first sight giving an idea of great poverty, 
are nevertheless very commodious, substantially built, and comfortably 
furnished, and what is more, they are their own. They are generally 
surrounded by their little gardens, and almost always stand on plots of 
land which belong to and are cultivated by the tenants, and no one, who 
has seen the garden-like appearance of the cantons of Berne, Vaud, Sol- 
leure, Argovia, Thurgovia, and Zurich, Avill doubt again the high state of 
cultivation which may be attained by small farmers, proprietors of their 
own farms. The Swiss proprietor, himself a farmer, is interested in the 
state of his little property, and he is not a man to reject the aid of science, 
or to shut his ears to advice, or his eyes to observation. Their small 
farmhouses are the pictures of neatness, and their httle estates are tended 
with the care an Englishman bestows upon his flower-garden. By far 
the greater part of the population are themselves proprietors, and the 
lands are so subdivided, as to bring them within the reach of the poorest 
laborer. This acts as the happiest preventive check on early and improv- 
ident marriages, and as the strongest possible incentive to providence 
and self-denial. Owing to this cause, the earliest age at which a young 
man thinks of marrying in several cantons is twenty-five, as he spends the 
first part of his life, after he has begun to earn any wages, in laying by 
some little capital toward the purchase of a house and piece "of Fand. 
When he can offer a certain share of the purchase-money, he pays it over 
to the vendor and enters into possession, clearing the rest of his debt by 
yearly payments. It is only after he has thus attained the great object 
of his wi-shes that he marries. Many even of the laborers in the towns 
own or rent their little properties outside. The happy effects of this 
system are manifest not only in the excellent check it affords to impru- 
dently early marriages and in the happy stimulant to prudence and sobri- 



156 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. 

ety, but also and more particularly in the interest it gives the country 
peasants in the maintenance of social order. 

The Swiss have so clearly understood that the real cause of pauperism 
is want of prudence and foresight among the poor, that the people them- 
selves, in three of the most democratic of the cantons, have not only re- 
solved, that all children should be forced to attend school for a certain 
number of years, and that the descent of lands should be so arranged, as 
to insure a great subdivision and make the separate estates small and 
numerous : and have not only created, by these means, strong incentives 
to prudence among the poor, by elevating their tastes, by teaching them 
the great benefits to be derived from temporary self-denial, and by hold- 
ing out to the saving and self-denying laborer the prospect of becoming a 
proprietor; but they have also enacted laws, which prohibit any man 
marrying, until he prove to the state that he is able to support his wife. 
Ii must be remembered, that these laws are put in force by the people 
themselves. So clearly is it understood in Switzerland that the true 
cause of pauperism in a well-governed state can only be ignorance, and 
improvidence resulting from ignorance, or some misfortune which could 
not have been foreseen ; and that it is only the pauperism resulting from 
this latter cause for which a well-organized community ought to be called 
upon to provide." 



EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT 



MR. DE FELLENBERG, AT HOFWYL. 



The great educational establishment of Mr. de Fellenberg at Hofwyl, 
in the canton of Berne, has attracted more attention, and exerted a wider 
influence, than any one institution in Europe or America, during the pres- 
ent century. It originated in motives of patriotism and benevolence, 
about the year 1805, and was sustained for forty years by personal eflforts 
and pecuniary sacrifices on thepartof its founder, which have never been 
equalled among men of his wealth, and social position. Born to every 
advantage of education which wealth and rank could secure, advanced 
early to positions of trust and influence in public life, enjoying extensive 
opportunities of observation by travel in the most refined nations, thrown 
by the political convulsions of his country and of Europe, from 1790 to 
1805, much among the people and their rulers, Fellenberg became con- 
vinced that improvement in early education was the only resource for the 
permanent strength and elevation of the state of his own and other coun- 
tries. To this object, at the age of thirty-one. he consecrated himself 
and his fortune. Being possessed of ample means, he resolved to form 
on his own estate, and on an independent basis, a model institution, in 
which it should be proved what education could accomplish ibr the bene- 
fit of humanity. Out of this determination arose the Institution at 
Hofwyl. 

He commenced with two or three boys from abroad, with his own chil- 
dren, in his own house ; and from, time to time received others, but never 
more than two or three new pupils at once, that they might fall insensibly 
into the habits of the school, without producing any effect upon its general 
state. In 1807, the first building was erected for the '• Literary Institu- 
tion," and the number of pupils increased to eighty, mostly from patrician 
families. During this year he projected an institution for indigent chil- 
dren, and employed Vehrli, the son of a schoolmaster of Thurgovia, in the 
execution of the plan, after training him in his own family. The farm- 
house of the establishment was assigned for this school, and here Vehrli 
received the pupils taken from among the poorest families in the neigh- 
borhood. He left the table of Mr. de Fellenberg, and shared their straw 
beds and vegetable diet, became their fellow-laborer on the farm, and 
companion in hours of relaxation, as well as their teacher, and thus laid 
the foundation of the " Agricultural Institution," or " Poor School," in 
1808. The principles on which this school was established, were to employ 
agriculture as the means of moral education for the poor, and to make 



158 FELLENBERG'S INSTITUTION AT HOFWYL. 

their labors the means of defraying the expense of their education. In 
this institution, Vehrii attained that practical knowledge of teaching 
which fitted him for his higher work in the Normal School at Kruitz- 
iingen. 

About the same time, a school of " Theoretical and Practical Agricul- 
ture" for all classes, was formed and provided with professors. To this 
school several liundred students resorted annually. In the same year, 
Fellenberg commenced the formation of a Normal School, or seminary 
for teachers, at his own expense, inviting one of the most distinguished 
educators of the day to conduct it. Forty-two teachers, of the canton of 
Berne, came together the first year and received a course of instruction in 
the art of teaching. So great was the zeal inspired by the liberality of 
Fellenberg, and the course of instruction, that the teachers were content 
to prolong their stay beyond their first intention, and to lodge in tents, in 
lack of other accommodations on the premises. Owhig to some jealousy 
and low party intrigue, the government of Berne interfered with his plan 
of bringing the teachers of the canton annually together for a similar 
course, and henceforth the benefits were open only to teachers from other 
cantons, and to such as belonged to the School of Agriculture. The 
teachers, after one of these annual courses, presented an address to Fel- 
lenberg, from which the following is an extract. It is addressed to " the 
worthy Father and Friend of the People." 

" When we reflect that without education no true happiness is to be attained, 
and that this can only be secured by means of well-taught and virtuous teach- 
ers ; and when we recollect that you have devoted yourself to the object without 
regard to the sacrifice it may require, — we must rejoice that this age is favored 
with such a friend of his country ; and when we remember the kindness and 
friendship with which we have been treated at Hofvvyl, we are compelled to 
give you our affection as well as our admiration, and which will not diminish 
as long as our hearts shall beat, and oar children shall learn to say, 'So lived 
and labored Father Fellenberg.'* We will not enter here into any particular 
statement of our views concerning the course of instruction we have received, 
which we shall in due time make known to the public : we will only say, for 
your own satisfaction, that this course has far exceeded our expectations, by its 
complete adaptation to practical life, by fhe skill and efforts of your assistants, 
and by the moral and rehgious spirit with which the whole has been animated. 
We have been led to enter with a fervent devotion into a sacred engagement, 
that we will live and labor in our calling in the spirit which you have exhibited, 
and thus prove to you that your noble sacrifices have not been vain. We are 
more deeply penetrated than ever before with a sense of the sacredness of our 
calling. We are resolved to conduct ourselves with prudence and caution, in 
affection and union, with unyielding and conscientious faithfulness, in the dis- 
charge of our duty, and thus to prove ourselves worthy of your Institution." 

In continuation of our brief sketch of Fellenberg's establishment at 
Hofvvyl, we will add that, from 1810 to 1817, it attracted the attention of 
educators and statesmen in Switzerland and all parts of Europe. Pupils 
were sent from Russia, Germany, France and England. Deputations 
from foreign governments visited it, to learn especially the organization 
of the School of Agriculture, and the Poor, or Rural School. In 1815, a 

• This title was habitually given to l)e Fellenberg by the Swiss teachers and youth who appre- 
eiated his chai'acter, or who had experienced his kindness. 



FELLENBERG'S INSTITUTION AT HOFWYL. I59 

new building was erected to accommodate the increasing number of the 
Agricultural School, the lower part of which was occupied as a riding- 
school and gymnasium. In 1818 another building became necessary for 
the residence of the professors, and the reception of the friends of the pu- 
pils; and soon after, a large building, now the principal one of the estab- 
lishment, with its two wings, was erected for the Literary Institution, 
which furnished every accommodation that could be desired for health or 
improvement. In 1823 another building was erected, in the garden of 
the mansion, for a school of poor girls, which was placed under the direc- 
tion of the oldest daughter of Fellenberg; and in 1827 the Intermediate 
or Practical Institution was established. It is much to be desired that 
this example of slow and cautious progress might be imitated by those 
who are establishing institutions in our own country, in place of collecting 
at once a large mass of discordant materials, without any preparation 
which can render them a solid basis for a well-proportioned or permanent 
moral edifice. 

The Practical Institution, or •' Real School," was designed for the chil- 
dren of the middle classes of Switzerland, and not solely for the same 
class in the canton of Berne, aiming thereby to assimilate the youth of 
the whole country into common feelings and principles of patriotism, by 
being educated together, and on one system. The course of instruction 
included all the branches which were deemed important in the education 
of youth not intended for the professions of law, medicine and theology. 
The pupils belonged to famiUes of men of business, mechanics, profes- 
sional men, and persons in public employment, whose means did not allow 
them to I'urnish their children an education of accomplishments, and who 
did not wish to have them estranged from the simplicity of the paternal 
mansion. In view of these circumstances, the buildings, the furniture, the 
table, and the dress of the pupils, were arranged in correspondence to the 
habits in these respects of their families at home. In addition to an 
ordinary scholastic course, the pupils were all employed two hours in man- 
ual labor on the farm, in a garden plot of thsir own. in the mechanic'.^ 
shop, and in household offices, such as taking care 0^ rooms, books, and 
tools. 

More than one hundred reports, many of them quite voluminous, have 
been published in this country and in Europe, respecting the whole, or 
portions of Fellenberg's Establishments at Hofvvyl. The most particular 
account, and that in which the spirit of the institutions was considered by 
their founder to be best exhibited, was given in a series of Letters from 
Hofwyl, by William C. Woodbridge, in the Annals of Education, pub- 
lished in Boston. These letters were republished in London, in 1842, as 
an Appendix to ^'- Letters from Hofwyl, by a Parent, on the Educational 
Institutions of De Fellenberg,^' pp. 372. The preceding sketch of these 
institutions, and the outline of the Normal Course which follows, have been 
drawn from this volume. The following summary of the Principles of 
Education, as developed in the experience of Fellenberg, is gathered also 



160 FELLENBERG'S INSTITUTION AT HOFWYL. 

from this work, and from a letter of his directed to Lady Byron, who has 

estabhshed and supports a School of Industry at Earling, after the model 

of the Rural School at Hofwyl. 

" The great object of education is to develop all the faculties of our nature, 
physical, intellectual, and moral, and to endeavor to train and unite them into 
one harmonious system, which shall form the most perfect character of which 
the individual is susceptible; and thus prepare him for every period, and every 
sphere of action to which he may be called. It is only by means of the har- 
monious development of every faculty of our nature, in one connected system, 
that we can hope to see complete men issue from our institutions — men who 
may become the saviors of their country, and the benefactors of mankind. To 
form such characters is more important than to produce mere scholars, howev- 
er distinguished, and this is the object on which the eye of the educator should 
be fixed, and to which every part of his instruction and discipline should be 
directed, if he means to fill the exalted office of ' being a fellow-worker with 
God.' " 

"On the reception of a new pupil, our first object is to obtain an accurate 
knowledge of his individual character, with all its resources and defects, in order to 
aid in its farther development, according to the apparent intention of the Creator. 
To this end, the individual, independent activity of the pupil is of much greater im- 
portance than the ordinary, busy officiousness of many who assume the office of ed- 
ucators and teachers. They too often render the child a mere magazine of knowl- 
edge, collected by means purely mechanical, which furnishes him neither direction 
nor aid in the business of life. The more ill-digested knowledge a man thus col- 
lects, the more oppressive will be the burden to its possessor, and the more painful 
his helplessness. Instead of pursuing this course, we endeavor, by bestowing the 
utmost care upon the cultivation of the conscience, the understanding, and the judg- 
ment, to light up a torch in the mind of every pupil, which shall enable him to ob- 
serve his own character, and shall set in the clearest light all the exterior objects 
which claim his attention. 

A great variety of exercises of the body and the senses are employed to prepare 
our pupils for the fulfilment of their destination. It is by means of such exercises 
that every man should acquire a knowledge of liis physical strength, and attain con- 
fidence with regard to those efforts of which he is capable, instead of that fool-hardi- 
ness which endangers the existence of many who have not learned to estimate their 
own powers correctly. 

All the various relations of space should be presented to the eye, to be observed 
and combined in the manner best adapted to form the coup d'ceil. Instruction in 
design renders us important service in this respect — every one should thus attain the 
power of reproducing the forms he has observed, and of delineating them with 
facility, and should learn to discover the beauty of forms, and to distinguish them 
from their contrasts.'* It is only where the talent is remarkable that the attempt 
should be made to render the pupil an artist. 

The cultivation of the ear by means of vocal and instrumental music is not less 
important to complete the development of the human being. The organs of speech, 
the memory, the understanding, and the taste, should be formed in the same man- 
ner by instruction, and a great variety of exercises in language, vocal music, and 
declamation. The same means should also be employed to cultivate and confirm 
devotional feelings. 

In the study of natural history the power of observation is developed in reference 
to natural objects. In the history of mankind the same faculty is employed upon 
the phenomena of hvtman nature and human relations, and the moral taste is culti- 
vated, at the same time the faculty of conceiving with correctness, and of employing 
and combining with readiness, the materials collected by the mind, and especially 
the reasoning faculty, should be brought into exercise, by means of forms and num- 
bers, exhibited in their multiplied and varied relations. 

The social life of our pupils contributes materially to the formation of their moral 
character. The principles developed in their experience of practical life among 
themselves, which gradually extends with their age and the progress of their minds, 
serves as the basis of this branch of education. It presents the examples and occa- 



FKLLENBERG'S INSTITUTION AT HOFWYI.. Jgj 

sions necessary for exhibiting and illustrating the great principles of morals. Ac- 
cording to the example of Divine Providence, we watch over this little world in 
which our pupils live and act, with an ever vigilant, but often invisible care, and 
constantly endeavor to render it more pure and noble. 

At the same time that the various improvements of science and art are applied to 
the benefit of our pupils, their sound religious education should be continually kept 
in view in every branch of study ; this is also the object of a distinct series of les- 
sons, which generally continue through the whole course of instruction, and whose 
influence is aided by the requisite exercises of devotion. 

By the combination of means I have described, we succeed in directing our pupils 
to the best methods of pursuing their studies independently ; we occupy their atten- 
tion, according to their individual necessities and capacities, with philology, the an- 
cient and modern languages, the mathematics, and their various modes of applica- 
tion, and a course of historical studies, comprising geography, statistics, and political 
economy. 

Moral Education. — The example of the instructor is all important in moral 
education. The books wliich are put into the pupils' hands are of great influence. 
The pupil must be constantly surrounded with stimulants to good actions in order to 
form his habits. A new institution should be begun with so small a number of 
pupils, that no one of them can escape the observation of the educator and his moral 
influence. The general opinion of the pupils is of high importance, and hence 
should be carefully directed. Intimate intercourse between pupils and their edu- 
cators begets confidence, and is the strongest means of moral education. The edu- 
cator must be able to command himself — his conduct must be firm and just ; fre- 
quent reproofs from such are more painful to the pupil than punishment of a 
momentary sort. 

Wliile influences tending directly to lead the pupil astray should be removed from 
the school, he must be left to the action of the ordinary circumstances of life, that 
his character may be developed accordingly. The pupil should be led as far as pos- 
sible to correct his faults by perceiving the consequences of them ; the good or bad 
opinion of his preceptor and comrades are important means of stimulation. Exclu- 
sion from amusements, public notice of faults, and corporal punishment, are all ad- 
missible. Solitary confinement is efficacious as a punishment. Rewards and 
emulation are unnecessary as motives. 

Religion and morality are too intimately connected to admit of separation in the 
courses inculcating them. The elementary part of such a course is equally applica- 
ble to all sects. 

No good is to be derived from employing the pupils as judges or juries, or giving 
them a direct share in awarding punishment for ofljenses. It is apt to elevate the 
youth too much in his own conceit. 

Family life is better adapted, than any artificial state of society within an institu- 
tion, to develop the moral sentiments and feelings of youth. 

Intellectual Education. — A system of prizes, or emulation, and the fear of pun- 
ishment, do not afford the strongest motives to intellectual exertion. Experience 
shows that places in a class may be dispensed with. It is possible to develop a tast€ 
for knowledge, a respect and attachment for teachers, and a sense of duty which 
will take the place of any lower motive in inducing the requisite amount of study. 

In the higher departments of instruction it is better to confine the task of the 
teacher to giving instruction merely, placing the pupil under the charge of a special 
educator, at times when he is not engaged in the class-room. 

With the other, and more useful branches of instruction, correct ideas of natural 
history and phenomena should be communicated to children, and require, first, that 
they shall be duly trained to observation by calling the observing faculties into fre- 
quent exercise. Second, that they shall be made acquainted with the elements of 
natural history, especially in reference to familiar objects. Third, that the most fa- 
miliar phenomena of nature, such as thunder and lightning, the rainbow, &c. ; and 
further, the most simple principles of the mechanic arts, trades, &c., should be ex- 
plained to them. Fourth, they should be taught to draw, in connection with the 
other instruction. Accuracy of conception is favored by drawing, and it is a power- 
ful aid to the memory. The most important principles of physiokgy, and their ap- 
plication to the preservation of health, should form a part of the instruction. 

11 



IQ2 FELLENBERG'S INSTITUTION AT HOFWYL. 

Physical Education. Pure air, a suitable diet, regular exercise and repose, and 
a proper distribution of time, are the principal means of physical education. It is as 
essential that a pupil leave his studies during the time appropriated to relaxation, as 
that he study during the hours devoted to that purpose. Voluntary exercise is to be 
encouraged by providing suitable games, by affording opportunities for gardening, 
and by excursions, and by bathing. Regular gymnastic exercises should be insisted 
on as the means of developing the body ; a healthy action of the bodily frame has an 
important influence on both mind and morals. Music is to be considered as a branch 
of physical education, having powerful moral influences. The succession of study, 
labor, musical instruction, or play, should be carefully attended to. The hours of 
sleep should be regulated by the age of the pupil. 

Experience has taught me that indolence in young persons is so directly opposite 
to their natural disposition to activity, that unless it is the consequence of bad edu- 
cation, it is almost invariably connected with some constitutional defect. 

The great art of education, therefore, consists in knowing how to occupy every 
every moment of life in well-directed and useful activity of the youthful powers, hi 
order that, so far as possible, nothing evil may find room to develop itself." 

Mr. de Fellenberg died in 1846, and his family discontinued the educa- 
tional establishments at Hofwyl, in 1848, except "the Poor School," 
which is now placed under a single teacher, and the pupils are employed 
in the extensive operations of the farm to acquire a practical knowledge of 
agriculture. But the principles developed by the distinguished philan- 
thropist and educator, have become embodied in the educational institutions 
of his native country and of Europe. This is particularly true of the great 
aim of all his labors to develop all the faculties of our nature, physicaly 
intellectual and moral, and to train and unite them into one harmonious 
system, which shall form the most perfect character of which the individ- 
ual is susceptible, and thus prepare him for every period, and every 
sphere of action to which he may be called. 



OUTLINE 



OP THB 

NORMAL COURSE OF INSTRUCTION AT HOFWYL. 



The Rural or Agricultural School at Hofwyl was designed to be a 
eeininary for teachers, as well as a school for those devoted to labor. 
Both Fellenberg and Vehrli deem it very important for all who are to be 
employed in the instruction of common schools to have a thorough ac- 
quaintance Avith the. practical labor of a farm. As an additional provi- 
sion for their support, and as an invigorating exercise, it will be desirable 
for them (as indeed it probably would be for all literary men) to continue 
these labors. But a practical acquaintance with the life and habits of a 
majority of their pupils is the only means of preparing them fully to enter 
into the views and feelings of those under their care, to understand their 
wants and their difficulties, and prepare them for their duties. It also 
furnishes many important illustrations and topics of remark. It enables 
them to give much valuable information of a practical kind in connection 
with the subjects of their studies, and much may be done in this way to 
extend agricultural improvements. It is also an additional means of 
securing the attachment of the teachers to those to whom, it is desirable 
their labors should be devoted, and inducing them to continue in this em- 
ployment. So much is this object appreciated in some of the seminaries 
for instructors in Germany, whose plan and location do not admit of a 
farming establishment, that a garden and a nursery of fruit-trees are an- 
nexed to the seminary, and regular instruction is given in connection with 
them. 

The direct preparation of the teachers for their profession consists, — I. 
In a thorough study of the branches to be taught, which they acquire in 
common with the other pupils, and on the productive plan. 2. In a series 
of lessons designed especially for them, in which Vehrli directs them as to 
the method of communicating instruction. 3. In assuming alternately the 
place of teachers in this class, under the immediate inspection of Vehrli. 

4. In acting alternately as instructor and monitor to the other pupils, and 
superintendents of their conduct, under the general direction of Vehrli. 

5. In the daily advice and direction they receive from him in the discharge 
of these duties. 6. In witnessing his own methods of instruction, as he 
passes from class to class to observe their progress. 7. In the discussions 
connected with a meeting for familiar conversation. 8. Those who are 
qualified for a more extended course of study are permitted to attend the 
lessons of the professors in the Literary Institution ; and some are em- 
ployed in the instruction or superintendence of the younger pupils in that 
echool. Indeed, Fellenberg has found that those who were trained in the 



2g4 NORMAL COURSE AT HOFWYL. 

Agricultural Institution were among the most valuable and faithful educa- 
tors he could obtain ; and on this account he deems an establishment ol 
this kind an important aid to one of a morfe scientific or literary character. 
It is with the aid of assistants thus trained that Vehrli haa succeeded in 
rendering a school, often composed of the worst materials, a model of order, 
industry, and improvement, which has excited the admiration of all who 
have visited it. 

The following is a sketch of the course of instruction pursued with the 
class of teachers which annually assembled, by invitation and at the ex- 
pense of Fellenberg, at Hofwyl : 

"The first object was to ascertain, by iree conversation or examination, 
the intellectual condition of the teachers, and to arrange them in classes, 
and provide means of instruction adapted to their wants : they were con- 
nected in such a manner that the better informed might assist those who 
were less familiar with the subject, and that they might enjoy the advan- 
tages of mutual as well as general instruction. 

The day was opened and closed with religious exercises, in which they 
were led particularly to consider the duties of their office. Eight hour.«i 
were assigned to instruction ; the evening was devoted to free conversa- 
tion on the state of the schools and their wants, and the subjects present- 
ed in the day; and the teachers had the opportunity of asking general 
questions, or presenting topics for discussion. Daily lessons were given 
in language, arithmetic, natural history, and vocal music; three lessons 
weekly in religion, and the same number in geometry and drawing ; and 
two in geography ; and two in anthropology, or the description of the 
human body and mind. Two or three hours daily were specially devoted 
to repetitions, or the copying of notes. The mode of instruction was 
adapted to the topic: sometimes it consisted merely in the exhibition of 
the subject, or of the methods of instruction ; but it was accompanied as 
often as possible by questions to the teachers, and by practical illustra- 
tions, either by forming a class among the teachers, or calling in the pu- 
pils of the Agricultural School. The object of this course was to give 
general views of some important topics ; to improve and inform the minds 
of the teachers themselves; and especially to give them a complete view 
of the methods of teaching. We add an account of the principal courses : 

7%e Maternal Language^ or Grammar. — The course of instruction in 
the mother tongue occupied one hour daily o^ the course, as being the 
basis of instruction in all other branches. Clear and precise ideas of the 
meaning and coimection of words, and of the proper mode of expressing 
our ideas, are not less indispensable to successful study than to the busi- 
ness of life. But the study of language was also presented as an efficient 
means of exciting and developing the powers of the mind; because it 
should always be connected with the observation of the things to be de- 
scribed, or reflection on the ideas to be expressed. In short, if properly 
taught, every step in this study is a practical exercise in logic. Instruc- 
tion in the mother tongue ought to commence with exercises in speaking, 
the inaterials for which should be derived from the objects immediately 
surr&unding the child, or most familiar to him ; and are always connected 
with the exercise of the senses in distinguishing form, color, size, weight, 
sound, feeling, and taste. It was also urged that the speaking, writing, 
and reading of the native language should go on together, in alternate ex- 
ercises, as a part of one course of instruction ; and not divided, as they 
often are. A plan of instruction was described extending through the 
whole period allotted to school fedueation. The subject was divided into 
portions corresponding to our division of etymology and syntax ; the first 



NORMAL COURSE AT HOFWYL. 1^5 

involving simply words and their variations, and the'isecond their connec- 
tion in sentences. The teachers were advised to present both in 
euch a manner that the pupil could not escape with mere mechanical 
habits ; that he should be compelled to exercise thought and judgment in 
regard to the meaning and variations of individual words and their modes 
of combination. The last was especially recommended as the best means 
of showing the meaning as well as the use of individual words: in short, 
the methods advised and adopted present the most striking contrast with 
the mechanical exercises and the parrot-like acquisitions of pupils in 
grammar in English and American schools. 

The more important principles were dictated and written down by the 
teachers; and questions were asked and answered in illustration. Writ- 
ten exercises on the various points presented, were also prepared and cor- 
rected, as far as the time would allow. 

Religious Insti^ction. — The course of instruction in religion embraced, 
1. Biblical history of the Old and New Testament; 2. History of the 
Christian religion ; 3. Principles and precepts of Christianity ; 4. A brief 
exposition of the best manner of giving religious or catechetic instruc- 
tion. The design of this course was two-fold: — 

1. To give to the teacher himself clear views of the sacred truths and 
solemn duties of religion ; to enlighten his mind ; to strengthen him in the 
resolute, persevering performance of his duties ; to enlarge and ennoble 
his feelings ; and to implant in his heart an unchangeable, cheering hope, 
which should sustain him in the changes and trials incident to his labori- 
ous calling. 

2. To render him an able teacher of religion, so far as it falls within 
the sphere of the common school ; and to prepare him, by precept and 
example, to make his pupils acquainted with the truths of the Bible, and 
the duties it imposes, and to educate them as disciples of Christ. 

Both these objects were kept in view, and each more or less attended 
to, according to the nature of the subject and the knowledge of the au- 
ditors. 

Biblical History. — As the history of the Bible was already familiar to 
the audience, this subject was treated principally in reference to the 
method of teaching. After a general chronological review of the princi- 
pal events of the history, and its connection with that of other nations, the 
experienced teacher of a common school to v/hom this part of the course 
was intrusted, examined the various methods of Biblical instruction 
adopted in the canton of Berne. He warned his hearers against many of 
those methods, some of which reduce this part of instruction to a mechan- 
ical exercise of memory, that destroys its spirit; while others neglect the 
great object, and employ it merely as a means of instruction in language. 
He recommended — 1. That the teacher should relate each portion of the 
history in language as much biblical and child-like as possible, and call 
upon the children to repeat the narration. 

2. That he should require them to select the principal and subordinate 
circumstances, and combine them in their regular order and connection. 

3. That he should lead them to draw the conclusions and make the re- 
flections which the history may suggest, under his direction and with his 
assistance ; but that he should carefully guard against the error of at- 
tempting to derive too many lessons of a different nature from a single 
history, for this only enfeebles the influence of the great principle involved, 
and distracts the mind and the feelings with too great a variety of sub 
jects. In order to illustrate more completely the methods proposed, a 
class of children from the Agricultural School was generally brought in, 
and exercised in the manner proposed. 

History of the Christian Religion.— The great objects of this course 
were, to awaken a deeper and more genera! interest in the Christian reli- 



IQQ NORMAL COURSE AT HOFWYL. 

gion, and to strengihen their faith in its irresistible power, by showing 
them how light and truth have ever gained the victory amidst all the op- 
pression and persecution they have endured. 

The progress of light was traced ; the earnest and useless groping after 
truth described, which preceded the coming of the Saviour, and was only 
satisfied by his instructions. The political and civil condition of the world 
at the Christian era, and the influence which Christianity has had in 
changing or modifying it, by the mutual and undistinguishing benevo- 
lence it requires between individuals and nations, and the equal rights 
which it thus establishes, was made the subject of particular attention. 
But the attention of the pupils was principally directed to the internal 
condition of the Christian church in the first three centuries, while it re- 
mained comparatively pure : the}^ were pointed to the influence of Chris- 
tian feelings and a Christian life in the family, the community, and the 
state ; to the invincible power of that faith, and that love to the Saviour 
and to one another, which triumphed over ridicule and suffering, and mar- 
tyrdom itself in its most horrid forms. The errors in principle and prac- 
tice of this early period were also exhibited, with their sad consequences ; 
and the effects of the various extremes to which they led — of slavish for- 
mality or lawless licentiousness ; of intolerance and of hypocrisy ; of su- 
perstition and fanaticism ; of ecclesiastical despotism, and of anarchy — 
were presented in such a light as to point out the dangers to which we 
are still exposed. The time did not allow the extension of the course to 
later periods of history. 

Principles and Precepts of Christianity. — The religious instructor ob- 
serves, that he endeavored to present this part of his subject in its biblical 
form, and to show his pupils the inexhaustible richness of Divine wisdom 
exhibited in the Scriptures, to which reason, when duly enlightened as to 
its proper sphere, will come as a pupil, and not as a teacher. This reve- 
lation, he remarked, made in the language of men, should be the rule by 
which the exhibitions of the Deity, in nature, and providence, and the 
mind of man, must be judged. On the other hand, he presented the lead- 
ing doctrines contained in the formularies of the Swiss churches, but still 
as subordinate to the biblical exhibition of truth with which the teacher 
in Switzerland is chiefly concerned. The first subjects of instruction 
were the general nature of religion, the peculiar character of Christianity, 
and its adaptation to the nature of man, the admirable form in which it is 
presented, and the importance of taking the Savior as a model for the 
methods of religious instruction. The Scriptures were next examined as 
the sources of religious truth, and the principal contents of the various 
books described, with the leading evidences of its historical authority, of 
its inspiration, and of the credibility of the principles it contains. The 
leading doctrines maintained in the national church were then presented, 
each accompanied with the evidence and illustrations afforded by the 
Scriptures, and Ibilowed by an exhibition of the duties involved in it, or 
founded upon it. At the same time, illustrations were derived from na- 
ture and from the human heart; and directions were given as to the best 
mode of teaching these truths to the young. 

Methods of Religious Instruction. — The method of giving religious in- 
struction was also taken up in a special manner, at the conclusion of the 
course : the first object was to point out the manner and order in which 
the various principles and precepts of religion should be presented to the 
young in correspondence with the development of their faculties; and the 
importance of preparing their minds to receive the truths, by making them 
familiar with the language, and the objects of intellect and feeling in 
general, instead of calling upon them to pass at once from the observa- 
tion and the language of the material world, to the elevated truths of re- 
ligion expressed in terms entirely new, and which leave so many minds 



NORMAL COURSE AT HOFWYL. 16Y 

in hopeless eonfusion, if not in absolute ignorance of their real nature. 
The distinction of essential and non-essential doctrines was adverted to, 
and general directions given as to the methods of narrating and exam- 
ining. 

Anthropology^ or the Study of Man. — This course was intended to give 
a general idea of the nature of man, and especially of the construction of 
our bodies, with a view to illustrate at once their wonderful mechanism, 
and to direct to the proper mode of employing and treating their various 
organs. The teacher adopted as his leading principles, to exclude as 
much as possible all that has not practical importance, and to employ the 
most simple terms and illustrations which could be chosen. The first 
great division of the course was devoted to the structure of the human 
body: it was opened with a brief introduction to natural history, and a 
comparative view of vegetables and animals, and man, and of the several 
races of men. The elementary materials of the human frame were then 
described, and the great and wonderful changes they undergo in receiving 
the principle of life, and becoming a part of man. 

The various systems of the human body, the bones, muscles, vessels, 
organs, and nerves were next described, and illustrated by a human skel- 
eton and by preparations of animals : the offices of each part were de- 
scribed in connection with its form and situation ; thus uniting anatomy 
and physiology. At the same time, reference was made to the mode ol 
employing them_ ; the common accidents to which they were liable, as 
dislocations, fractures, &c., and the mode of guarding against them. 
The second portion of the course wos devoted to the subject of Hygiene, 
or Dietetics; the proper mode of employing and treating the various 
organs, in order to preserve health and strength. It was opened with 
some views of the nature and value of health, and the causes which most 
frequently undermine it. The first object of attention was the organs of 
reproduction, their important destination, their delicate nature, and the 
evil consequence of too early excitement or abuse on the rest of the sys- 
tem; with the indications of abuse, and the methods of restoration. The 
nervous system, in its connection with the subject, led to the consideration 
of spiritual life, and ite connection with the body, through the medium of 
the nerves. The various passions and affections were particularly de- 
scribed, with their influence upon the health; and the rules of education 
derived from tliis topic. Sleeping and waking were then treated as phe- 
nomena of the nervous system ; and the distinction to be observed be- 
tween children and adults on this subject was pointed out. The import- 
ance of attending to the structure and use of the bed-room and the bed, 
and even the position in sleep, was also adverted to. 

The organs of sense, especially the eye and the ear, were minutely de- 
scribed, with the diseases to which they are liable from improper use or 
neglect, or from causes injurious to the brain and nervous system in gen- 
eral. The importance of the skin and its functions, and of maintaining 
its cleanliness by frequent changes of clotiiing and bathing; the necessity 
and methods of useful exercise; the precautions which ought to be em- 
ployed to secure the purity of the air, especially in schools, and to guard 
against diseases of the organs of respiration, were the subjects of partic- 
ular instruction. The formation and uses of the blood, the influence of 
food, and the circumstances in its condition or preparation which render it 
injurious, the evil effects of alcoholic drinks, and the most obvious causes 
of injury to the digestive organs, or of interruption in their functions, were 
aftenvard discussed in a practical manner. The course was closed with 
simple directions as to the treatment of injuries produced by sudden acci- 
dents, falls, wounds, drowning, freezing, fits, &c., during the time which 
must elapse before medical aid can be procured, or when it is not within 
3"each — a species of knowledge for want of wliich many a life has doubt- 



168 NORMAL COURSE AT HOFWYL. 

less been lost, and which is peculiarly important to one who is entrusted 
with the care of a large number of young persons. Indeed, what more 
valuable gift could be made to a collection of American teachers than 
such a course of instruction ; a course which every well-informed physi- 
cian is capable of giving? 

Geography. — The course of instruction in geography was designed to 
point out the best methods of teaching facts already familiar to the audi- 
ence. Two principles were laid down as fundamental : — 1. To commence 
with giving the pupil distinct ideas of hill, valley, plain, stream, and lake 
in his own circle, and the characteristics of his own neighborhood; and 
thus to become familiar with the elements, and to proceed from particu- 
lar to general views. 2. That the geography of their native country 
should be made familiar to the pupils of the common school, before they 
are confused or attracted by the peculiarities and wonders of foreign coun- 
tries. A course of instruction was described for the canton of Berne in 
conformity with these principles, and the necessarj'- references given to 
the authorities from which the teacher should derive his information. As 
a part of the course, each teacher was required to write an account of the 
place of his residence; and was taught how he should direct his pupils in 
the observations and inquiries necessary for this purpose, and fitted to 
develop the habits of quick and accurate perception and patient research. 

History of Switzerland. — It was assumed as a principle, that history 
should not be taught as a whole in common schools ; because young minds 
are incapable of understanding the causes and connection of events which 
involve the ideas, and plans, and motives of warriors and statesmen. On 
the other hand ii was deemed of great importance to present the leading 
events of history to the young, in order to impress the moral lessons which 
they furnish, and especially those which belong to their own country. 
To the teachers, however, it was considered necessary to give a complete 
view of the history of Switzerland, in order to enable them to select and 
explain better its individual portions. It was accordingly narrated, so far 
as the time would admit, in several great divisions: the primitive period, 
the Roman period, and the period of transition, introduced the Swiss 
confederation; tlie heroic or warlike period, the period of political decline, 
and the period of revolution, (since 1798.) embraced the history of the 
confederation. This view of the course will be sufficient to show the 
general principles on which the method of instruction in this subject is 
founded. 

Agriculture. — A course of lectures on agriculture was given to the as- 
sembled teachers by Fellenberg himself The audience were reminded 
of that wise Omnipotence which presides over the circle of human activi- 
ty, and of the manner in which it operates incessantly to prepare man for 
his higher destination, by rendering all his efforts dependent on this pa- 
rental guidance for iheir success ; and by leading him through ail the 
variety of events in the material world, to that higher moral existence for 
which we are made. The lecturer pointed out the wisdom of this ar- 
rangement, and the defects which would exist in our education, as men, 
without these external means. He stated that he had assumed it as a 
part of his task to illustrate, by the evidence of facts, in a rational system 
of agriculture, that man is called upon to become like God — in governing 
himself, and in controlling the material world, for the good of his fellow- 
men ; and that he observed constantly more and more the powerful influ- 
ence of well-conducted plans of agriculture exerted in counteracting the 
spirit of indolence and habits of idleness. The first subject illustrated, 
was the power which a knowledge of the great principles of agriculture 
confers over the operations of nature, by giving a suitable direction to the 
cares and labors of its possessor ; and the wretched slavery of the ignorant 
to the mere changes of matter, and to those effects of the elements which 



NORMAL COURSE AT HOFWYL. 169 

the Creator gives us the capacity in some measure to employ for our own 
benefit. He next considered the best mode of rendering agriculture a 
means of exciting mental activity in the children and parents of a village, 
and of forming their character. Many sources of poverty and suffering 
in Switzerland were pointed out, which arose from the neglect of this 
subject, and the intimate connection between the improvement of agri- 
, culture, and the increase of intelligence and comfort of those who are en- 
gaged in it. with the prosperity and the free institutions of the country. 
Various leading principles of agriculture were then taken up; such as 
the removal of all the obstacles to vegetation — stones, w^eeds, excessive 
water, &c. ; the rational preparation and use of manure; the proper form 
and employment of the plough ; and the succession of crops. The influ- 
ence of these principles, and of the knowledge of the elements that com- 
pose the materials employed in cultivating the earth, on the products and 
the facility of labor,'were clearly exhibited, and were illustrated by a ref- 
erence to the improved fields and increased products of Hofwyl. In 
short, the great object of this course was, not to teach the science, but to 
give such general views as should lead the teachers to appreciate and in- 
culcate its importance, to observe and reflect on the prevailing evils and 
their remedies, and to excite their pupils to observation, as a means of 
rendering their very labors a source of intellectual and moral improvement. 

A brief course of instruction was also given by Fellenberg, on the con- 
stitution of the canton, and the rights and duties of citizens. It would, 
of course, be out of place to enter into the details of the Berne constitu- 
tion; but we cannot give a correct view of the spirit of this course of in- 
struction without describing the peculiar manner in which he introduced it. 

He observed that the merely material interest of civil and political life 
forms a foundation too sandy and unstable for the life of the family or the 
state. A constitution truly free, and fitted to promote the higher moral 
ends of our existence, can find no firmer basis, no more noble and appro- 
priate means, no higher ends, than in the message ol" ' peace on earth, and 
good will to men,' which was brought by our Savior. No book of free- 
dom can better satisfy its true friends than the Bible, with its evangelical 
complement, if its instructions and its objects are rightly understood. 
Since I have sought here the sources and objects of a constitution, I have 
felt a higher value than ever for the Scriptures. The constitution pre- 
sents the good of all as the great object; and this is the end of the Divine 
government. It calls upon each citizen to live and die for others — the 
object of our Savior's instructions and example. The Creator makes 
no distinction in the birth and death of men; and the constitution only 
follows his example in giving equal rights to all. The Savior teaches 
us to regard our fellow-men as members of the same family ; the consti- 
tution simply enforces and carries out this principle. It acknowledges 
that 'the welfare or misery of a state depends on the moral and intellect- 
ual cultivation of its citizens, and that their sound education is among its 
first duties, and thus admits the great principle of the Gospel in relation 
to the affairs of this world.' Such is the spirit which Fellenberg wishes 
to pervade every course of instruction." 

The success of the Normal course of instruction at Hofwyl, in spite of 
the petty jealousy with which the patriotic and benevolent labors of its 
founder was followed by the government of Berne, led to the establish- 
ment of two Normal Schools in that canton, and of similar institutions in 
most of the cantons of Switzerland. Fellenberg was elected a member 
of the Legislative Assembly, on the adoption of the new constitution, in 
1831. On his motion the following article was introduced into the funda- 
mental law : 



IfjQ NORMAL COURSE AT HOFWYL. 

" The welfare or woe of every state depends on the moral worth of its 
citizens. Without the cultivation of the mind and heart, true freedom is 
inconceivable, and patriotism is an empty sound. We must labor for our 
moral elevation, for the highest possible cultivation of the powers we have 
received from the Creator, if we would partake of the happiness which a 
free constitution should afford. The zealous promotion of this object is 
recommended by the Constituent Assembly to all future legislators, as 
holding a higher place in importance than all other objects." 

Although the teachers of the canton were prohibited by a vote of the 
Education Department of the canton from attending his Annual Normal 
Course, a society was formed in 1832, with the name of the " Cantonal 
Teachers'' Society of Berne.'" The following account is given by Mr. 
Woodbridge, in 1834: 

BERNE CANTONAL SOCIETY OF TEACHERS. 

" This society was formed by the teachers assembled for instruction at 
Hofvvyl in the summer of 1832, and consisted of 154 members, with few 
exceptions, teachers of ordinary schools. Fellenberg was chosen presi- 
dent; and Vehrli, the excellent teacher of the farm pupils of Hofvvyl, 
vice-president. Its constitution presents, as the great objects of the soci- 
ety, union and co-operation in promoting the education of the people, and 
elevating the character of the schools. The means proposed were, free 
communications between its members, consultations concerning the best 
modes of advancing the cause of schools and improving the condition of 
teachers, and direct efforts to excite the attention of the people to the de- 
fects of present plans and methods of organizing and instructing the com- 
mon schools of the country.- 

Among the important topics in the school itself which are proposed by 
the Society of Berne, to be presented in the meetings of its auxiliary so- 
cieties, the first named is a careful inquiry into the condition of the pupils 
of their schools, and the proper means for their moral improvement. For 
this purpose they urge that every effort be made to give the pupils con- 
stant employment, and to guard them against the temptations of idleness; 
to preserve a mild but firm course of discipline ; and to promote fraternal 
affection among them. They urge, that every branch of instruction, from 
the highest to the lowest, be discussed at these meetings; and that there 
should be a steady etfort among the teachers to advance in knoivledge 
and skill. Would that the last object could be impressed upon the 
minds of the multitude of teachers in our country, who wrap themselves 
up in the consciousness of having attained the ne plus idtra of skill and 
knowledge, or lie down in listless apathy, after their daily task is per- 
formed, with no anxiety but to 'get through' the business of to-morrow 
as early as possible. 

The'second meeting of the Berne Society of Teachers was also held at 
Hofvvyl. It was opened by an interesting address from the president, full 
of truth and energy, of which we can only give a few opening sentences: — 

' Guardians of the spiritual life, the personal wealth, of the children of 
our people ! we have assembled to ratify our bond. We have pledged 
ourselves that in our schools shall grow up a noble, well-taught genera- 
tion of the people ; true to the principles of the Gospel, devoted to God, 
and faithful to men ; a people whose characters shall not be unworthy of 
the scenes of grandeur and beauty which the Creator has assigned as 
their native land !' 

' In this great object we shall succeed only so far as we follow the Sa- 
vior's example, and imbibe the fullness of his love to man, and trust in 
God, in forming the hearts of those who are committed to us, in extending 
the influence of the school to every household, and in warming the hearts 



NORMAL COURSE AT HOFWYL. I7l 

of parents as well as children. God will reward such labors, even if they 
are not rewarded on earth. The God who feeds the ravens and clothes 
the lilies, will never forsake the faithful guardians of Ms children.' 

Among the evils suggested at this meeting of the society, as requiring 
a remedy, were some familiar to our own schools : — the want of faithful 
visitation, for which responsible and paid officers were considered the 
only remedy ; neglect and difficulties in obtaining suitable teachers ; im- 

{)erfect school-books and means of instruction ; tlie want of a periodical 
or teachers ; the unhappy difficulties arising from the dependence of the 
teacher on the caprice or convenience of individuals for his scanty pay, 
and claims of parental dictation often founded upon it. 

After the meeting was closed the band of music of the farm pupils of 
Hofwyl called the assembly to a repast prepared for 360 persons by the 
liberal founder of Hofwyl. It was opened by him with prayer, acknow- 
ledging the favor of God to their association, and intreating his blessing 
upon their future efforts. A scene of social enjoyment and familiar inter- 
course then followed, suited to cheer the hearts of these fellow-laborers in 
an arduous and too often thankless office. Occasional songs, of that ele- 
vated and heart-stirring character which we have formerly described, 
were sung by the farm pupils, and united in by the chorus of teachers. 
We translate one sentiment given by a teacher, as a specimen of those 
offered on this occasion : , 

' There is one means of making the happiness, and the delight, which 
we feel to-day, universal! There is one unfailing means to convert 
ruined families into families of joy — to dry up the sources of poverty and 
misery — and to stem the torrent of overwhelming vice — to secure our 
liberties, and those of our children, against all the power of treachery, — 
in short, to secure the purity and the liappiness of the people. And this 
unfailing means is. Christian rational education of the people, and 
especially of the poor. To all, then, who understand this mighty cry, and 
put their hands to the holy work, Long life ! Health to all the friends 
and promoters of rational education of the people, and the poot — far and 
near ! Long life to them !' 

Such animating sentiments were followed and impressed by some of 
the noble ' mannencheren,' or hymns for male voices, which the Swiss 
music furnishes to cherish social, and benevolent, and patriotic, and devo- 
tional feeling, in place of the bacchanalian and amatory songs which so 
often disgrace our social meetings. 

During the summer of 1833, a course of instruction was given to teach- 
ers, under the immediate direction of Fellenberg. It was closed by an ex- 
amination, at which a considerable number of persons were present; and 
the Cantonal Society of Teachers held its third meeting immediately 
after. It was attended by 200 teachers and friends of education, or school- 
men, as they are all styled in simple German, many of whom were new 
members. 

Would that we could witness such a movement in any considerable 
portion of our own country. Could we see some individual who had the 
faith to invite, and the influence necessary to collect such a body of teach- 
ers to listen to instruction, and consult for the good of their schools, for 
three months, in any State in the Union, we should expect more benefit 
to the cause of education than from any amount of school funds ; for, im- 
portant as they are, under proper regulation, they can never supply the 
place of an intelligent and well-trained body of teachers. 

Since the above letter was written. State, County and Town Associa- 
tions of Teachers have been formed ; Teachers' Institutes have been 
held; and Normal courses of instruction and Normal Schools, established. 



NORMAL SCHOOL 



KRUITZLINGEN IN THE CANTON OF THDRGOVIA. 



The Normal School at Kruitzlingen, in the canton of Thurgovia, ia 
under the direction of Vehrli, who for several years had the charge oi 
the school in Fellenberg's establishment at Hofwyl. Under Vehrli's 
management, this Normal School has attracted much attention, not only 
in Switzerland, but in France, Germany, and England. The Training 
School at Battersea, near London, was modeled after this. The follow- 
ing account of a visit to Kruitzhngen is taken from Dr. Kay's '•Report on 
the Training School at Battersea" in 1841. 

The normal school at Kruilzlingen is in the summer palace of the former 
abbot of the convent of that name, on the shore of the Lake of Constance, about 
one mile from the gate of the city. The pupils are sent thither from the several 
commanes of the canton, to be trained three years by Vehrli, before they take 
charge of the communal schools. Their expenses are borne in part by the com- 
mune, and partly by the council of the canton. We found ninety young men, 
apparently from eighteen to twenty-four or twenty-six years of age, in the 
school. Vehrli welcomed us with frankness and simplicity, which at once won 
our confidence. We joined him at his frugal meal. He pointed to the viands, 
which were coarse, and said, — " I am a peasant's son. I wish to be no other 
than I am, the teacher of the sons of the peasantry. You are welcome to my 
meal: it is coarse and homely, but it is offered cordially." 

We sat down with him. "These potatoes," he said, "are our own. We 
won them from the earth, and therefore we need no dainties, for our appetite is 
gained by labor, and the fruit of our toil is always savory." This introduced 
the subject of industry. He told us all the pupils of the normal school labored 
daily some hours in a garden of several acres attached to the house, and that 
they performed all the domestic duty of the household. When we walked out 
with Vehrli, we found them in the garden digging, and carrying on other gar- 
den operations, with great assiduity. Others were sawing wood into logs, and 
chopping it into billets in the court-yard. Some brought in sacks of potatoes 
on their backs, or baskets of recently gathered vegetables. Others labored in 
the domestic duties of the household. 

After a while the bell rang, and immediately their out-door labors terminated, 
and they returned in an orderly manner, with all their implements, to the court- 
yard, where having deposited them, thrown off their frocks, and washed, they 
reassembled in their respective class-rooms. 

We soon followed them. Here we listened to lessons in mathematics, prov- 
ing that they were well-grounded in the elementary parts of that science. We 
sav/ them drawing from models with considerable skill and precision, and heard 
them instructed in the laws of perspective. We listened to a lecture on the 
code of the canton, and to instruction in the geography of Europe. We were 
informed that their instruction extended to the language of the canton, its con- 
struction and grammar, and especially to the history of Switzerland ; arithme- 
tic; mensuration; such a knowledge of natural philosophy and mechanics as 
might enable them to explain the chief phenomena of nature and the mechani- 
cal forces ; some acquaintance with astronomy. They had continual lessons 
in pedagogy, or the theory of the art of teaching, which they practiced in the 
neighboring village school. We were assured that their instruction in the Holy 
Scriptures, and other religious knowledge, was a constant subject of solicitude. 

The following extract from Vehrli's address at the first examination of the 
pupils, in 1837, will best explain the spirit that governs the seminary, and the 



l^i NORMAL SCHOOL AT KRUITZLINGEN. 

attention paid there to what we believe has been too often neglected in this 
country — the education cf the heart and feelings, as distinct from the cultiva- 
tion of the intellect. It may appear strange to English habits to assign so 
prominent a place in an educational institution to the following points, but the 
indication here given, of the superior care bestowed in the formation of the 
character, to what is given to the acquisition of knowledge, forms in our view 
the chief charm and merit in this and several other Swiss seminaries, and is 
what we have labored to impress on the institution we have founded. To those 
who can enter into its spirit, the following extract will not appear tinctured 
with too sanguine views : — 

" The course of life in this seminary is three-fold. 

" 1st. — Life in the home circle, or family life. 

"2nd. — Life in the school-room. 

"3rd. — Life beyond the walls in the cultivation of the soil. 

" I place the family life first, for here the truest education is imparted ; here 
thefuture teacher can best receive that cultivation of the character and feelings 
which will fit him to direct those, who are entrusted to his care, in the ways of 
piety and truth. 

"A well-arranged family circle is the place where each member, by partici- 
pating in the others' joys and sorrows, pleasures and misfortunes, by teaching, 
advice, consolation, and example, is inspired with sentiments of single-minded- 
ness, of charity, of mutual confidence, of noble thoughts, of high feelings, and 
of virtue. 

" In such a circle can a true religious sense take the firmest and the deepest 
root. Here it is that the principles of Christian feeling can best be laid, where 
opportunity is continually given for the exercise of affection and charity, which 
are the first virtues that should distinguish a teacher's mind. Here it is that 
kindness and earnestness can most surely form the young members to be good 
and intelligent men, and that each is most willing to learn and receive an im- 
press from his fellow. He who is brought up in such a circle, who thus recog- 
nizes all his fellow-men as brothers, serves them with willingness whenever he 
can, treats all his race as one family, loves them, and God their father above 
all, how richly does such a one scatter blessings around! What earnestness 
does he show in all his doings and conduct, v/hat devotion especially does he 
display in the business of a teacher ! How differently from him does that mas- 
ter enter and leave his school, whose feelings are dead to a sense of piety, and 
whose heart never beats in unison with the joys of family life. 

" Where is such a teacher as I have described most pleasantly occupied 1 
In his school amongst his children, with them in the house of God or in the 
family circle, and wherever he can be giving or receiving instruction. A great 
man has expressed, perhaps too strongly, ' I never wish to see a teacher who 
can not sing.' With more reason I would maintain, that a teacher to whom a 
sense of the pleasures of a well-arranged family is wanting, and who fails to 
recognize in it a well-grounded religious influence, should never enter a school- 
room." 

As we returned from the garden with the pupils on the evening of the first 
day, we stood for a fev/ minutes with Vehrli in the court-yard by the shore of 
the lake. The pupils had ascended into the class-rooms, and the evening being 
tranquil and warm, the windows were thrown up, and we shortly afterward 
heard them sing in excellent harmony. As soon as this song had ceased we 
sent a message to request another, with which we had become familiar in our 
visits to the Swiss schools; and thus, in succession, we called for song after 
song of Nageli, imagining that we were only directing them at their usual hour 
of instruction in vocal music. There was a great charm in this simple but 
excellent harmony. When we had listened nearly an hour, Vehrli invited us 
to ascend into the room where the pupils were assembled. We followed him, 
and on entering the apartment, great was our surprise to discover the whole 
school, during the period we had listened, had been cheering with songs their 
evening employment of peeling potatoes, and cutting the stalks from the green 
vegetables and beans which they had gathered in the garden. As we stood 
there they renewed their choruses till prayers were announced. Supper had 
been previously taken. After prayers, Vehrli, walking about the apartment, 
conversed with them familiarly on the occurrences of the day, mingling with 



NORMAL SCHOOL AT KRUITZLINGEN. 175 

his conversation such friendly admonition as sprang from the incidents, and 
then lifiingr his hands he recommended them to the protection of heaven, and 
dismissed them to rest. 

We spent two days with great interest in this establishment. Vehrli had 
ever on his lips : — " We are peasant's sons. We would not be ignorant of our 
duties, but God forbid that knowledge should make us despise the simplicity of 
our lives. The earth is our mother, and we gather our food from her breast, 
but while we peasants labor for our daily food, we may learn many lessons 
from our mother earth. There is no knowledge in books like an immediate 
converse with nature, and those (hat dig the soil have nearest communion with 
her. Believe me, or believe me not, this is the thought that can make a pea- 
sant's life sweet, and his toil a luxury. I know it, for see my hands are horny 
with toil. The lot of men is very equal, and wisdom consists in the discovery 
of ihe truth that what is luUkout is not the source of sorrow, but that which is 
within. A peasant may be happier than a prince if his conscience be pure before 
God, and he learn not only contentment, but joy, in the life of labor which is to 
prepare him for the life of heaven." 

This was the theme always on Vehrli's lips. Expressed with more or less 
perspicuity, his main thought seemed to be that poverty, rightly understood, 
was no misfortune. He regarded it as a sphere of human exertion and human 
trial, preparatory to the change of existence, but offering its own sources of en- 
joyment as abundantly as any other. " We are all equal," he said, " before 
God ; why should the son of a peasant envy a prince, or the lily an oak ; are 
they not both God's creatures'?" 

We were greatly charmed in this school by the union of comparatively high 
intellectual attainments among the scholars, Avith the utmost simplicity of life, 
and cheerfulness in the humblest menial labor. Their food was of the coarsest 
character, consisting chieily of vegetables, soups, and very brown bread. They 
rose between four and five, took three meals in the day, the last about six, and 
retired to rest at nine. They seemed happy in their lot. 

Some of the other normal schools of Switzerland are remarkable for the same 
simplicity in their domestic arrangements, though the students exceed in their 
intellectual attainments all notions prevalent in England of what should be 
taught in such schools. Thus in the normal school of the canton of Berne the 
pupils worked in the fields during eight hours of the day, and spent the rest in 
intellectual labor. They v;ere clad in the coarsest dresses of the peasantry, 
wore wooden shoes, and were without stockings. Their intellectual attain- 
ments, however, would have enabled them to put to shame the masters of most 
of our best elementary schools. 

Such men, we felt assured, would go forth cheerluUy to their humble village 
homes to spread the doctrine which Vehrli taught of peace and contentment in 
virtuous exertion; and men similarly trained appeared to us best fitted for the 
labor of reclaiming the pauper youth of England to the virtues, and restoring 
them to the happiness, of her best instructed peasantry. 

A brother of Dr. Kay, in his " Education of the Poor in England and 
Europe," thus speaks of Vehrli : 

" I saw Vehrli twice. The first time I found him clad in a plain coarse 
tweed vest, at work upon his fields; and on my second visit, he was busily 
engaged Avith his boys in repairing the plain wooden furniture of his 
house, and the handles, &c., of his farming tools. He said to me, ' You 
must not expect to find any grandeur in our house ; my boys are all to be 
engaged among our peasants, and I teach them to sympathize with those 
with whom they must associate hereafter, by accustoming them and my- 
self to simple peasants' lives.' On my first visit I dined with him. The 
viands were of the plainest possible kind, but Vehrli reminded me that 
the laborer's fare was no better, and that therefore the laborer's compan- 
ion and teacher ought to be satisfied. The result of this simple life is, 
that while in other parts of Sv/itzerland, schoolmasters, who have been 
admirably instructed at Normal schools, but who have never had the ad- 
vantage of the excellent discipline of the habits which Vehrli's pupils 



176 NORMAL SCHOOLS AT KRUITZLINGEN. 

receive, often become discontented with the drudgery of a schoolmaster's 
life, the young men, wiio have left Vehrli'a school, are found to persevere 
with cheerfulness and Christian enthusiasm in the work of instruction and 
social reformation. 

Througliout Switzerland, Vehrli's school is looked on as the pattern. 
and in all the other Normal Schools they are gradually adopting his views 
relative to the education of the teachers. 

I have thus particularly noticed the necessity of a great simplicity in 
the daily life of a pupil-teacher, as I fear this important part of a school- 
master's training is almost entirely neglected in several of the few Normal 
schools we at present possess. We seem to imagine that it is a perfectly 
easy thing for a man, who has acquired habits of life fitting him for the 
higher circles of society, to associate ,with the poor, without any previous 
training. No mistake can be more fatal to the progress of the religious 
education of the poor. An instructed man, accustomed for several years 
to the society of intellectual professors and companions, without having 
any thing to remind him of, still less to habituate him to communication 
with, the humble class among whom he is afterward to live, must feel 
considerable reluctance, if not decided disgust, when he finds himself 
called on to associate with the simple, rude, and uneducated poor. To 
enable him to do this, requires as careful a training as to enable him to 
teach ; and although men are ibund, whose sense of duty and whose 
Christian philanthropy triumph over the defects of their education, yet, in 
the majority of cases, the dissimilarity of tastes between the teacher and 
his associates, must at least curtail his power of doing good, even if it 
does not actually cause him to neglect altogether the principal of his du- 
ties, from that natural repugnance which he cannot surmount. To teach 
the poor effectively, we must choose the teachers from among themselves; 
and during their education we must continually accustom them to the 
humble character of their former lives, as well as to that of their future 
associates. The Roman Catholic Church has always clearly understood 
this truth. She has perceived from the first, with' that sagacity which 
has marked all her worldly policy, that to obtain men who would really 
understand and sympathize with the poor, and who would feel no disgust 
for the greatest duty of a priest's life, the visitation of the meanest hovels, 
she must take her teachers from the poor themselves, and keep their minds 
continually habituated to a toilsome and humble life, whilst receiving edu- 
cation fitting them to be the religious teachers of the people. The greater 
part, therefore, of her priests are chosen from the poorer classes. The 
poor know that these priests can understand their necessities, can sympa- 
thize with their sufferings, and can visit their simple firesides without 
disgust. Whilst, therefore, the Roman Catholic peasant respects his 
priest for the sacred character of the office he fills and lor the education 
he has received, there is none of that painful sense of separation between 
them, which exists, where the peasant feels that his religious minister 
belongs to another class and can never perfectly comprehend the situa- 
tion, the wants, and the troubles of the poor. Still less does such a reli- 
gious minister feel any difficulty in his communications with the poor. 
He visits the meanest hovel without disgust, he associates with the 
laborer without any danger of exhibiting an insolent air of worldly supe- 
riority, and knowing what a laborer's feelings are, he communicates with 
him without embarrassment, without reserve, and above all, without 
superciliousness. 

In the Catholic cantons of Switzerland the priest is not only the spirit- 
ual adviser, but he is also the friend and companion of the laborer, and 
that too, naturally, without any difficulty to himself^ and with infinite ad- 
vantage to the poor. An Englishman would scarcely believe me, were I 



NORMAL SCHOOL AT KRUITZLINGEN. 1^7 

to describe how the priests, in the Catholic cantons, may be seen associa- 
ting with the peasants. 

In this country, Avhere the clergynian is so far separated from the poor 
nian by his station in society, his associations, habits, and education, it be- 
comes doubly important that the schoolmaster of the Church should be a 
connecting link between the clergyman and his flock. He ought to be the 
adjutant of the clergyman, capable by his education to be indeed his 
assistant, and strictly united by his habits to the poor, among whom he 
ought with cheerfulness to labor. 

Deeply grieved am I, then, to see that in some of our Normal schools 
we have not only abandoned the idea of labor being a necessary part of 
the discipline of a Normal school, but that we are accustoming the pupil- 
teachers to manners of dress and living tar, far above those of the poor, 
among whom they must afterward live, and with whom they ought 
continually to associate. The life of a pupil-teacher in a Normal school 
ought to be such, that when he leaves it for his village school, he shall 
find his new position one of greater ease and comfort than the one he has 
left, and that he may feel no disgust for the laborious drudgery that must 
fall to his lot in such a situation. 

M. Prosper Dumont, in his treatise* on Normal Schools, published in 
Paris, in 1841, commends the Normal School of Vehrli, " as an excellent 
model for educating teachers for country schools." So profoundly was 
he impressed by the character of this practical educator, and the results 
of his teaching and example,that he regards Vehrli "as a beautiful exam- 
ple of the Normal teacher, — the religious and well-informed laborer, ca- 
pable of demonstrating, in an unequivocal manner, to v/orking men, that 
enlightened and elevated sentiments are not incompatible with manual 
labor. All is here combined to contribute to the education of a country 
teacher ; the example is always placed by the side of the precept ; all 
instruction is mutually connected, and illustrative of each other; the 
moral, mental, and physical development go along together. The whole 
atmosphere is pedagogic— the pupil teacher imbibes the spirit of his vo- 
cation at every pore. That which strikes most is the happy application 
of the best principles of education, and the profoundly Christian spirit, with- 
out ostentation, which characterizes every portion of the detail." 

Vehrli was still laboring in his vocation at Kruitzlingen in 1849, at the 
age of sixty, with the same simplicity of life, the same singleness of pur- 
pose, and the same noble enthusiasm which marked the opening of his 
career at Hofwyl. 

We add a Table exhibiting the allotment of time in each week of the 
Course of Instruction at Kruitzlingen, in the summer of 1836. 

* M. Dumont. received the prize ofFered by the Academy of Moral and Political Sci- 
ences, in 1838, for the best discussion of the question : " What degree of perfection 
may the establishment of primary Normal Schools acquire, considering them in their re- 
lation to the moral education of youth ?" 

The title of the work is " De I'Education Populaire et des Ecoles Normales Pri- 
maires." Paris, 1841. 



12 



NORMAL SEMINARY AT THURGOVIA. 



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NORMAL SCHOOL 



KUSSNACHT, IN THE CANTON OF ZURICH. 



The Normal School at Kussnacht is about a league from the town of 
Zurich, and the buildings are prettily situated on the borders of the lake 
of the same name. This institution was re-organized in 1836, though the 
modifications made have been rather in the details than in the general 
principles. It now consists of a school for teachers, a preparatory school 
for this seminary, and three primary model schools. It is intended to 
supply teachers for the different grades of primary schools of the canton, 
and during a portion of the year lectures are also delivered in the semi- 
nary to the older teachers, who are assembled for the purpose in their 
vacations. 

The superintendence and control of the Normal School is vested by the 
legislative council in the council of education, who appoint a committee of 
superintendence from their own body. This committee visits the school 
at least once a month, attends its examinations, and, in general, inspects 
its management. The executive power is delegated to a director, who 
has the immediate charge of the school, and arranges the plan of instruc- 
tion, in subordination to the council of education. He examines the can- 
didates lor admission, inspects the classes of the seminary, and of the 
schools attached to it, and lectures in the school of repetition for the older 
teachers. He is also responsible for the discipline, and reports half-yearly 
the state of the institution to the council of education. He is moreover 
present at the meeting of the committee of superintendence. There are 
three other teachers, besides a variable number of assistants. These 
teachers in turn have charge of the pupils of the Normal School in and 
out of school-hours. There are conferences of all the teachers, at which 
the director presides. The manners of the people and the purpose of the 
seminary render the discipline of very trifling amount. The pupils of the 
Normal School reside in the village of Kussnacht, but spend the greater 
part of their time at the school, under the direction of its masters. All 
the time devoted to study, recitation or lecture, and regular exercise, is 
passed there. ^ 

To be admitted as a candidate for the Normal School, a youth must be 
sixteen years of age, and of suitable morals, intellectual, and physical 
qualities for the proiession of a teacher. He must have spent two years 
in the higher division of primary instruction (called here secondary) in the 
model school, or some equivalent one, or have passed through the 
preparatory department of the Normal School, which gives a preference 
to the candidate, other qualifications being equal. The examination of 
candidates takes place once a year, and in presence of the committee 
of superintendence, or of a deputation from their body. The formal right 
of admitting to the school is, however, vested alone in the council of ed- 
ucation. The subjects of examination are Bible history, speaking and 
reading, grammar, the elements of history, geography and natural phi- 
losophy, arithmetic and the elements of geometry, writing, drawing, and 
vocal music. The council of education fixes the number of pupils who 
may be admitted, and the most proficient of the candidates are selected. 
There are forty stipendiary places, ten of the value of one hundred and 
sixty Swiss francs, (forty-eight dollars,) and thirty of half that sum.. 



1 80 NORMAL SCHOOL AT KUSSNACHT. 

Natives who are admitted all receive their instruction gratis. If there ia 
room in the school, foreigners may be received, paying twelve dollars per 
annum for their instruction. The number of pupils at the date of my 
visit, in the autumn of 1837, was one hundred and ten. The stipendia- 
ries are bound to serve as teachers in the canton two years ; a very mod- 
erate return for the education received. 

There are two grades of courses in the Normal School, one of two 
years for pupils intending to become teachers in the lower primary 
schools, the other of three years for the higher primary schools. The 
courses begin in April, and continue, with seven weeks of vacation, 
throughout the year. The subjects of instruction are: Religious instruc- 
tion, German, French, mathematics, history, geography, natural history 
and philosophy, pedagogy, writing, drawing, and vocal and instrumental 
music. French is only obligatory upon the students of the three years' 
course. Gymnastic exercises and swimming are regularly taught and 
practised. 

There is, besides, a lecture of an hour and a half on the art of building, 
once a week, attended by all the students. Those who learn instrumental 
music have lessons two hours and a half every week, and two hours of 
Sunday are occupied with singing in concert. One of the teachers de- 
votes two extra hours every week to the assistance of some of the pupils 
in their studies, or to repetitions. 

At the close of each year there is a public examination, and the pupils 
are classed according to its results. On leaving the institution, they are 
arranged in three grades ; the first, of those who have gone very satisfac- 
torily through the school, the second, of iJiose who have passed satisfac- 
torily, and the third, of those who have not come up to the standard. 
Certificates of the firsi two grades entitle their holders to compete for any 
vacant primary school. 

The courses of practice begin in the second year, when the pupils take 
regular part in the exercises of the schools attached to the seminary. 
These are, first, two model schools tor children from the ages of six to 
nine, and from nine to twelve, at which latter age the legal obligation to 
attend the school ceases. The third, called a secondary school, contains 
pupils from twelve to sixteen years of age. The system of instruction 
used in the lower schools is attended with very striking results. The 
Wessons are not divided into distinct branches, studiously kept separate, as 
in most elementary schools, but are connected, as far as possible, so as to 
keep the different subjects constantly before the mind. Thus, a lesson of 
geography is, at the same time, one of history, and incidentally of gram- 
mar, natural history, of reading and writing, and so on through the circle 
of elementary instruction. The Pestalozzian lessons on form are made 
the basis of writing, and with good success. The lowest class is taught 
to speak correctly, and to spell by the phonic method, to divide words into 
syllables, and thus to count. To number the lessons. To make forms 
and combine them, and thus to write, and through writing to read. The 
second passes to practical grammar, continues its reading and writing, 
the lessons in v/hich are made exercises of natural history and grammar. 
Reading and speaking are combined to produce accuracy in the latter, 
which is a difficulty where- the language has been corrupted into a dia- 
lect, as the German has in northern Switzerland. Movable letters are 
used to give exercises in spelling and reading. The plan of the Pesta- 
lozzian exercises in grammar is followed, and when the pupils have 
learned to write, a whole class, or even two classes, may be kept em- 
ployed intellectually, as well as mechanically, by one teacher. In read- 
ing, the understanding of every thing read is insisted upon, and the class- 
books are graduated accordingly. I never saw more intelligence and 
ireadiness displayed by children than in all these exercises ; it affords a 



NORMAL SCHOOL AT KUSSNACHT. 



181 



strong contrast to the dullness of schools in which they are taught me- 
chEinically. The same principles are carried into the upper classes, and 
are transplanted into the schools by the young teachers, who act here as 
assistants. The examination of the second school in Bible history, with 
its connected geography and grammar lessons ; in composition, with spe- 
cial reference to orthography and to the hand-writing ; and the music les- 
son, at all of which the director was so kind as to enable me to be present, 
were highly creditable. 

There are three classes in each of these schools, and the pupils of the 
Normal Seminary practice as assistant teachers in them at certain periods ; 
the director also gives lessons, which the pupils of the seminary repeat in 
his presence. 

In the highest, or secondary school, ihe elementary courses are ex- 
tended, and mathematics and French are added. 

The pupils of the preparatory department of the seminary spend two 
years in teaching in the two model schools, and in receiving instruction in 
the " secondary school" under the special charge of the director of the 
seminary. This establishment has furnished, during three years of full 
activity, two hundred teachers to the cantonal primary schools. These 
young teachers replace the older ones, who are found by the courses of 
repetition not able to come up to the present state of instruction, and who 
receive a retiring pension. The schools must thus be rapidly regener- 
ated throughout the canton, and the education of the people raised to the 
standard of their wants as repubhcans. 



182 



NORMAL SEMINARY AT ZURICH. 



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HOLLAND. 



The first impulse to improved primary instruction in Holland was 
given by some benevolent citizens of Groningen, who, in 1784, founded 
the " Society for the Public Good." They were encouraged and 
supported bj'^ the government, in their efforts to prepare school books, 
train schoolmasters, and excite attention to the state of schools. In 1806 
the various edicts and regulations, published from time to time, were 
digested into a law, by M. Van der Ende, and were generalized for the 
guidance of the country at large. The French invasion curtailed the 
means applied to education ; still the Dutch system was, as early as 1812, 
thought worthy of a special inquiry by Commissioners deputed from the 
University of Paris, at the head of which was M. Cuvier, who reported 
with no small admiration respecting it. On the restoration of peace in 
1814, the first care of the king was directed to the state of public educa- 
tion, which by the law of that year was restored to the footing of 1806. 
Every province was divided into educational districts, and a school in- 
spector was appointed to each district. A provincial School Commis- 
sion was named from among the leading inhabitants of each province to 
co-operate with the inspectors, and a sum was charged on the budget for 
the educational outlay, from which the traveling expenses of the commis- 
sioners were to be defrayed. 

The governments of the towns and provinces were charged with the 
cost of maintaining the schools, for which they provide in their local bud- 
gets. Teachers were classified into four ranks, according to their qualifi- 
cations and acquirements, and received their appointments from Govern- 
ment. A sum was also destined for the encouragement of associations of 
teachers, who were to meet to confer on school management, to visit each 
other's schools, and to study in common the duties incumbent on their 
profession. 

The best known methods of instruction were sought and tried, and a 
catalogue of the best school books was prepared and published in the 
course of the year 1814. 

In 1825. a prize was offered by the " Society for the Public Good," for the 
best essay on the advantages and disadvantages of the monitorial sys- 
tem, and the simultaneous or class system of instruction. The prize was 
awarded to a dissertation by M. Visser, Inspector of Primary Schools in 
Fries-land. In this essay, the system of monitorial instruction is analyzed, 



188 PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. 

and proved to be unsound on every point which bears upon education in 
the best sense of that term. This essay was published and widely distrib- 
uted by the society, and contributed to form and strengthen the opinion 
which prevails in Holland, against the method of mutual instruction. 

In 1816 the Normal School at Haarlem was established, to supply a 
deficiency which was felt for the training of teachers, through the influ- 
ence of M. Van der Ende, who is esteemed the father of education in 
Holland. A similar institution had previously been commenced on a 
small scale at Groningen, by the Society of Public Good. Up to the es- 
tablishment of the Normal School at Groningen, teachers had been trained 
in Holland, by serving a sort of apprenticeship from the age of 14 to 16 or 
18, as assistants in the larger schools, during the day, and receiving a 
course of special instruction, for one hour every evening. This, as far as 
it goes, is a cheap and excellent mode of professional training. But the 
experience of fifteen years satisfied her statesmen and educators, that 
this was not sufficient. It made good schoolmasters, but not inquiring and 
creative teachers. It produced rather routine than intelligent teaching, 
and arrested the progress of improvement, by perpetuating only the meth- 
ods of those schools in which the young teachers had been practiced as as- 
sistants. To obviate this tendency, and to give to teachers a broader 
and firmer basis of attainments and principles. Normal Schools were es- 
tablished. The two modes are now continued together,* and in connec- 
tion with the stimulus of the severe examination through which all teach- 
ers must pass, and of the direct and constant inspection to which all schol- 
ars are subjected, they have made the elementary schools of Holland 
inferior to none other in Europe. President Bache, in his Report on Edu- 
cation in Europe, pronounces them superior to those of the same class in 
any of the European states. 

The attendance of children is not made compulsory on parents, but, 
what is equivalent to such an enactment, it is provided by law, that out- 
door relief shall not be administered to any family, where children are al- 
lowed to run wild in the streets, or grow up as vagrants, or are employed 
in any factory without a previous elementary training. 

The schools are not made free to parents by governmental contribu- 
tion or local taxation, although both of these modes of supporting schools 
are resorted to. The schools are in the first place made good, by pro- 
viding for the employment of only well-quaHfied teachers, and then the 
schools, thus made good, are open to all parents without exception or dis- 
tinction, and all are required to pay a tuition fee, which the government 
provides shall not be large in any case. The result is universal educa- 
tion throughout Holland. In Haarlem, with a population of 21,000 in 
1840, there was not a child of ten years of age, and of sound intellect, who 
could not both read and write, and this is true throughout Holland, accord- 
ing to the testimony of intelligent travelers, and is borne out by the fol- 
lowing official table, (page 100,) as to the school attendance in 1846. 

' See paje 330. 



PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. Jgg 

The superiority of public elementary instruction in Holland, is attribu- 
ted, by her own educators, and by intelligent foreigners, who have visited 
her schools in the rural districts, as w^ell as in the large towns, to that 
system of special inspection, combined with specific and enforced prepa- 
ration of all candidates for the office of teacher, and subsequent gradation 
of rank and pay, according to character and skill, which has now been in 
operation nearly half a centary, ever since the first school law of the Ba- 
tavian Republic, in 1806, drawn up by that wise statesman, M. Van der 
Palm. The following extracts will give at once this testimony, and an 
intelligent account of the system of inspection. 

Baron Cuvier, in his " Repo7-t to the French Government on the estab- 
lishment of Public Instruction in Holland^'''' in 1811, after speaking with 
special commendation of the system of inspection, remarks; 

" The government is authorized to grant to each province a certain 
sum to meet the compensation, and the expenses of travel, and meetino- 
of the inspectors. The mode of choosing them is excellent; they are 
taken from clergymen, or laymen of education, who have signalized them- 
selves by their interest in the education of children, and skill in the local 
management of schools ; from the teachers who have distinguished them- 
selves in their vocation ; and in the large towns, from the professors of the 
Universities and higher grade of schools." 

Mr. W. E. Hickson, now Principal of the Mechanics Institute in Liver- 
pool, in an ''■Account of the Dutch and German Schools," published in 
1840, remarks : 

" In Holland, education is, on the whole, more faithfully carried out 
than in most of the German States, and we may add that, notwithstand- 
ing the numerous Normal Schools of Prussia, ("institutions in which Hol- 
land, although possessing two, is still deficient.) the Dutch schoolmasters 
are decidedly superior to the Prussian, and the schools of primary instruc- 
tion consequently in a more efficient state. This superiority we attribute 
entirely to a better system of inspection. In Prussia, the inspectors of 
schools are neither sulficiantly numerous, nor are their powers sufllciently 
extensive. Mr. Streiz. the inspector for the province of Posen, confessed 
to us the impossibility of personally visiting everyone of the 1,635 .schools 
in his district; and admitted that he was obliged, in his returns, to depend 
to a great extent upon the reports of local school committees. In Hol- 
land, inspection is the basis upon which the whole fabric of popular in- 
struction rests. 

The constitution of the Board is well worthy of attention ; there can be 
no judges of the qualifications of teachers equal to those whose daily em- 
ployment consists in visiting schools, and comparing the merits of differ- 
ent plans of instruction. But the power given to the inspector does not 
end here: by virtue of his office he is a member of every local board, and 
when vacant situations in schools are to be filled up, a new examination 
is instituted before him into the merits of the different candidates. It is 
upon his motion that the appointment is made, and upon his report to the 
higher authorities a master is suspended or dismissed for misconduct. 
Through his influence children of more than ordinary capacity in the 
schools he visits, are transferred, as pupils, to the Normal Schools, in or- 
der to be trained for masters ; and through his active agency all improved 
plans or methods of instruction are diffused throughout the various insti- 
tutions of the country." 



290 PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. 

M. Cousin, in a Report to the minister of Public Instruction in France, 
in 1836, " on the state of Education in Holland^" while giving a prefer- 
ence to the school law of Prussia, in its provision for Normal Schools, and 
the classification of public schools, and especially for the support of the 
higher class of primary schools, assigns the. palm to Holland, in the mat- 
ter of school inspection. 

" The provincial boards of primary instruction, with their great and varioas 
powers, constitute, in my mind, the chief superiority of the Dutch over the Prus- 
sian law. They resemble the Schul-coUeg'mm, which forms a part of every pro- 
vincial consistory in Prussia ; but they are far better, for the Schul-collegiuni is 
not composed of inspectors. It sends out some of its members to inspect, as 
occasion requires, but inspection is not its function. It judges from written 
documents, and not from ocular proof, and is generally obliged to rely upon 
the sole testimony of the member sent to inspect; whereas in Holland, the 
board, being both inspectors and judges of inspections, are on the one hand 
better judges, in consequence of the experience they have acquired in a con- 
stant routine of inspection ; and, on the other hand, they are better inspectors, 
by what they learn at the board, when acting as judges and governors, a com- 
bination eminently practical, and uniting what is almost every where sepa- 
rated. ***** 

Every inspector resides in his own district, and he is bound to inspect every 
school at least twice a year, and he has jurisdiction over the primary schools of 
every grade within the district. Without his approval no one can either be a 
public or a private teacher; and no public or private teacher can retain his situa- 
tion, or be promoted, or receive any gratuity ; for no commissioner has any 
power in his absence, and he is either the chairman or the influential member 
of all meetings that are held. He is thus at the head of the whole of the pri- 
mary instruction in his particular district. He is required to repair three 
times a year to the chief town of the province, to meet the other district inspec- 
tors of the province, and a conference is held, the governor of the province 
presiding, which lasts for a fortnight or three weeks, during which time each 
inspector reads a report upon the state of his district, and brings before the 
meeting all such questions as belong to them. As each province has its own 
particular code of regulations for its primary schools, founded upon the law 
and its general regulations, the provincial board examines whether all the pro- 
ceedings of the several inspectors have been conformable to that particular code ; 
they look to the strict and uniform execution of the code ; they pass such 
measures as belong to them to originate, and they draw up the annual report 
which is to be presented to the central administration, and submit such amend- 
ments as appear to them necessary or useful, and of which the central adminis- 
tration is constituted the judge. Under the Minister of the Interior there is a 
high functionary, the Inspector-general of Primary Instruction ; and from time 
to time a general meeting is summoned by the government, to be held at the 
Hague, to which each provincial board sends a deputy ; and thus, from the In- 
spector-general of the Hague, down to the local inspector of the smallest dis- 
trict, the whole of the primary instruction is under the direction of inspectors. 
Each inspector has charge of his own district, each provincial board has charge 
of its province; and the general meeting, which may be called the assembly 
of the states-general of primary instruction, has charge of the whole king- 
dom. All ihese authorities are, in their several degrees, analogous in their 
nature ; for all are public functionaries, all are paid and responsible officers. 
The district-inspector is responsible to the provincial Board of Commissioners ; 
and they are responsible to the Inspector-general and the Minister of the In- 
terior. In this learned and very simple hierarchy the powers of every member 
are clearly defined and limited." 

Mr. George Nicholls, in a " Report on the condition of the Laboring 
Poor in Holland and Belgium,^'' to the Poor Law Commissioners of 
England, in 1838, remarks : 

" The measures adopted in Holland to promote the education of all classes, 



PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. igj 

have apparently resuited from the conviction that the moral and social charac- 
ter of the people, their intelligence, and their capacity for increasing the resour- 
ces of the country, must in a great measure depend upon the manner in which 
they are trained for the fulfillment of their several duties. The state has not 
rendered education actually obligatory upon the municipalities, neither has it 
required evidence of the education of the children of the poorer classes by any 
educational test; for a sense of the importance of education pervades the entire 
community — it is sought by the poor for their children, with an earnestness simi- 
lar to that observed in the more wealthy classes in other countries ; and in 
Holland, the direct interference of government is confined to regulating the 
mode of instruction, by means of an organized system of inspection. 

This system, however much it may interfere with the liberty of the subject, 
has certainly some advantages. The poor, who have no means of judging for 
themselves, have, in the certificate given to every schoolmaster, some sort of 
guarantee that the person to whom they send their children is not an ignorant 
charlatan, professing to teach what he has never learned, and in the next place 
it secures to those who devote themselves to the profession a much higher rate 
of remuneration than they would receive if, as with us, every broken-down 
tradesman could open a school when able to do nothing else. This exclusion 
of absolute incapacity is also a means, and a very powerful one, of raising the 
character of the profession in popular estimation. With us, any man can be- 
come a schoolmaster, as easily as he can a coal-merchant, by simply putting a 
brass plate on his door; but in Holland, (and the same system is very general 
in Germany,) some degree of study is rendered indispensable, and lihe whole 
class, therefore, stand out from the rest of the community as men of superior at- 
tainments, and enjoy that consideration which men of cultivated minds every- 
where command, when not surrounded by coadjutors below rather than above 
the common level. 

In Holland, there is no profession that ranks higher than that of a school- 
master, and a nobleman would scarcely, if at all, command more respect 
than is paid to many of those who devote their lives to the instruction of youth. 
The same personal considei;ation is extended to the assistant teacher or usher. 
We were much struck with the difference in the position of persons of this class 
abroad, from their lot at home, when we were visiting a school for the middle 
classes at Hesse-Cassel. The school contained 200 children, and w^as supported 
partly by the town and the government, and partly by the payments of the schol- 
ars. The charge for daily instruction was from Is. 8d. lo 5s. per month. The 
children were distributed in six classess — to each class a separate master or as- 
sistant teacher. We were conducted over the establishment by the head master 
or director of the school, and the first thingwhich drew our attention was the ex- 
treme ceremony with which we were introduced to each of the assistant mas- 
ters, and the rnany apologies made by the professor for interrupting them, although 
but for a moment, in their important labors. We saw those treated as equals, 
who are in England often estimated as only on a rank with grooms or upper 
servants. 

The most important branch of administration, as connected with education, 
is that which relates to school inspection. All who have ever been anxious either 
to maintain the efficiency of a school, or to improve its character, vvill appre- 
ciate the importance of the frequent periodical visits of persons having a knowl- 
edge of what education is, and who are therefore able to estimate correctly the 
amount and kind of instruction given. Let a school established by voluntary 
subscriptions be placed to-day upon the best possible footing, if no vigilance be 
exercised by its founders, and if the master be neither encouraged nor stimula- 
ted to exertion by their presence, his salary will speedily be converted into a 
sinecure, and the school will degenerate to the lowest point of utility." 

Professor Bache, in his " Report on Education in Europe,^'' in 1838, to 
the Trustees of Girard College, remarks: 

"The system of primary instruction in Holland is particularly interesting to 
an American, from its organization in an ascending series ; beginning with the 
local school authorities, and terminating, after progressive degrees of represen- 
tation, as it were, in the highest authority ; instead of emanating, as in the cen- 
tralized systems, from that authority. A fair trial has been given to a system 



192 PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. 

of inspection which is almost entirely applicable to our country, and which has 
succeeded with them." 

The school system of Holland consists ofa brief law, of only twenty-three 
articles, drawn up by M. Van der Palm, the distinguished Oriental schol- 
lar, in 1801, and modified by M. Van der Ende, in 1806, and a series of 
Regulations drawn up by the slate department having charge of this sub- 
ject, to carry out the provisions of the laAV. The law was so wisely framed, 
and was so well adapted to the spirit, customs and habits of the people, 
that it has survived three great revolutions : first, that which converted the 
Batavian Republic into a kingdom, at first independent, but afterward 
incorporated with the French empire ; next, that which dethroned Louis, 
restored the house of Orange, and united Holland and Belgium in one 
monarchy ; and lastly, the revolution which again separated the two 
countries, and restricted the kingdom of the Netherlands to its former lim- 
its. During these thirty years, the law of 1SG6 was never interfered 
with ; it could only be altered by another law, and when the government, 
in 1829, in order to please the Belgian liberal party, brought forward a 
new general law, which made some very objectionable changes in that of 
1806, the chambers resisted, and the government were obliged to Avith- 
draw the bill. 

The following provisions will show the spirit and scope of the law, and 
general regulations. 

IX. "The school inspector of the district is authorized, in concert with th'e 
local authorities, to intrust one or more linown antl respectable persons with a 
local inspection, subordinate to his own, over the school or schools, and also 
over all the teachers of both sexes in the place, whether village, hamlet, or oth- 
erwise, and for each separately. 

X. In all the more considerable towns and places, the parochial authorities, 
in concert with the school inspector of the district, shall establish a local su- 
perintendence of the primary schools, which shall consist of one or more per- 
sons, according to local circumstances, but so as each member shall have a 
particular division, and all the schools in that division shall be confided to him 
individually. These persons shall collectively constitute, with the school in- 
trpector of the district, the local school board. 

XVII. No one shall be allowed to become a candidate for a vacant school, or 
to establish a new one, or to give private lessons, without having first obtained 
a certificate of general admission. In like manner, no one shall be allowed to 
teach any other branch than that for which he shall have received a certificate 
of general admission. 

XXII. The instruction shall be conducted in such a manner, that iheslucy 
of suitable and useful branches of knowledge shall be accompanied by an exer- 
cise of the intelleclual powers, and in such a manner that the pupils shall be 
prepared for the practice of all social and Christian virtues. 

XXIII. Measures shall be taken that the scholars be not left without instruc- 
tion in the doctrinal creed of the religious community to which thej' belong; 
but that part of the instruction shall not be exacted i'rora the schoolmaster. 

XXX. The provincial* and parochial authorities are recommended to take 
the necessary steps : 

*Tlie constitution of Holland is soinewliat singular, and would seem at first sight to be founded 
upon what perhaps mny one dny be recognized as the true theory of representative government, tliat 
of progressive, intermediate elections. The rate-payers elect the Kiezers, the Kiezers elect the Raad 
or town council, the town council elect a certain proportion of the members of the provincial govern- 
ments, and the provincial governments elect tlie lower chamber of the States General, or House of 
Commons. 

The States-GcTieral consist of two chnmlwprs. The upper chamber is somewhat of a House of 
Lords, but not hereditary. The members, fifty in number, receive 250/. per annum for traveling ex- 



PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. X93 

1. That the emoluments of the teacher (principally in rural parishes) be set- 
tled in such a way that his duties, when creditably performed, may obtain for 
hira a sufficient livelihood, and that he be rendered as little dependent as possi- 
ble, by direct aid, upon the parents of the children who frequent his school. 

2. That attendance at the schools be strictly enforced, and that they be kept 
open throughout the year." 

REGULATIONS RESPECTING THE EXAMINATION OF THOSE WHO DESIRE TO BECOME 
TEACHERS OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS, 

I. The teachers shall be divided into four classes, or grades, according to the 
amount of knowledge required, and according to the examination which they 
shall have passed. 

VII. In these examinations, the object shall be to ascertain not only the ex- 
tent of knowledge of the candidate in the branches he is proposing to teach, but 
also his power of communicating that knowledge to others, and especially to 
children. 

VIII. Before proceeding to the examination properly so called, the examin- 
ers shall endeavor to ascertain, in conversation with the candidate, his opin- 
ions on morals and religion ; the sphere of his attainments, both with regard to 
the most indispensable parts of primary instruction, and to foreign languages 
and other branches which he proposes to teach; together with his aptitude to 
direct, instruct, and form the character of youth. 

IX. The subjects of examination shall be as follows : 

1. Reading from different printed and written characters; and whether with 
a good pronunciation and a proper and natural accent, and with a knowledge 
of pimctuation. 

2. Some words and phrases designedly wrong shall be shown to the candi- 
date, to ascertain his knowledge of orthography. 

3. To ascertain his acquaintance with the grammatical structure of the Dutch 
language, a sentence shall be dictated to him, which he shall analyze, and point 
out the parts of speech ; and he must give proofs of a familiar acquaintance 
with the declensions snd conjugations. 

4. The candidate shall write some lines in large, middle, and small hand, 
and shall make his own pens. 

5. Some questions in arithmetic shall be proposed to him, confining this 
especially to such as are of common occurrence, and which shall be sufficient 
to show the dexterity of the candidate in calculations, both in whole numbers 
and in fractions. (Questions shall be put to him on the theoretical parts, and 
especially on decimal arithmetic. 

6. Some questions shall be proposed on the theory of singing. 

7. Different questions shall be proposed relative to history, geography, nat- 
ural philosophy, mathematics, and such other branches of knowledge as the 
candidate proposes to teach. 

8. A passage in French, or in any other language in which the candidate 
wishes to be examined, shall be given to him to read and translate. A pas- 
sage in Dutch shall be dictated to him, to be translated by him, either in writ- 
ing or viva voce, into the language which forms the subject of the examination. 
He shall be required to give, de improviso, in the same language, a composition 
in the form of a letter or narrative, &:c., all for the purpose of ascertaining 
the degree of acquaintance he possesses with the language in question, in or- 
thography, grammar and punctuation. 

penses. The lower chamber, before the Revolution, consisted of 110 members, now but of fifty-five. 
The provincial governments are : 



North Brabant, 42 members. 

Guelderlund, 90 " 

Holland, 90 " 

Zealand, 46 " 

Utrecht, 36 " 



Friesland, 54 members. 

Overyssel, 53 " ' 

Groningen, 36 " 

Dreuthe, 24 " 



The members of these provincial governments are not elected by the town councils, but by the no- 
bility ; the tovvn councils, and Kiezers of the country districts, nearly in equal proportions. General 
business affecting more than one province, is referred to one or other of two committees, or provincial 
cabinets, elected by th« members of the provincial governments. On these committees one member 
sits for each province. 

13 



194 PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. 

X. The examination upon the acquirements of the candidate having been 
compleied, the examiners shall proceed to inquire into his capacity for teach- 
ing; they shall question him as to the manner of teaching children to know 
the letters, figures, and the first principles ; then reading, writing, and arithme- 
tic. They shall then require him to relate some story or portion of history, in 
order to discover the degree of talent he possesses to present things to children 
with clearness and precision ; care shall he taken, if there be a convenient op- 
portunity, and if it he thought advisable, to have some children present, of dif- 
ferent ages, and of different degrees of attainment, in order to ascertain more 
particularly his skill in practical teaching. 

XI. Finally, the examiners shall propose some questions upon the principles 
to be followed in rewards and punishments; as also in general on the best meth- 
ods to be adopted, not only to develop and cultivate the intellectual faculties of 
children, btxt most especially to bring them up in the exercise of the Christian 
virtues. 

XII. When the examination is concluded, the examiners shall deliver to the 
candidate, who desires to obtain a general admission as a master, and has given 
proof of sufficient ability, a deed of that admission, according to the extent of 
his ability; and in this shall be stated, as distinctly as possible, the extent and 
the nature of the talents and of the acquirements of the candidate, as proved by 
his examination ; and it shall declare the rank he has obtained, if it be in the 
first, second, third, or fourth class, and consequently such a general admis- 
sion as shall giv^e him a right to apply for the situation of a master, accord- 
ing to the rank which has been assigned to him. Finally, the said deed shall 
declare the branches of education, and the languages for which he shall have 
obtained the general admission. 

XIII. The schoolmistresses or teachers of languages who shall have passed 
an examination, and have given sufficient proofs of their ability, shall also re- 
ceive a deed which shall contain, besides a declaration of the extent and amount 
of their acquirements and talents, as proved by the examination, a general ad- 
mission either for the office of schoolmistress or teacher of languages. That 
deed shall moreover expressly declare the branches of study and the languages 
which the person examined shall be entitled to teach. 

XIV. All the deeds mentioned in the two preceding articles shall be alike 
throughout the whole extent of the republic, both in the matter and the form. 
If they are issued by a provincial board of education, they shall be signed by 
the president and secretary, and the seal of the board shall be affixed to them. 
The deeds issued by an inspector, or by a local board, shall be signed by the in- 
spector only, or by the secretary of the local board. 

XV. The certificates for the first and second class, issued by a provincial 
board, shall entitle those who obtain them to be masters in all primary schools, 
public as well as private, of the two classes, in all places throughout the repub- 
lic, without exception ; whereas the deeds issued by a local board shall confer 
no privilege beyond that locality. 

XVI. The certificates for the third class, as well as those for the fourth or 
lowest class, .shall confer the privilege of becoming teachers, except in schools 
established in places whose wants are proportioned to the rank and capacity of 
such masters, and which are situated within the jurisdiction of the provincial 
board. 

XVII. In order that the provisions contained in the two preceding articles 
may be more easily carried into effect, the schools in small towns and less con- 
siderable places, more fully described in Art. 9 of regulation A, shall be classed 
by the different inspectors and by the provincial boards, into higher, middle, 
and lower schools, upon a principle hereafter provided. This classification, 
which shall be submitted to the provincial authorities for approval, shall be 
solely for the purpose of preventing the principal school falling into the hands 
ofincompetent masters; while, at the same time, it leaves the power of placing 
a very able master over the smallest school. 

XVIII. In the towns or places of greatest importance, no master of the fourth 
or lowest class shall be eligible to either a public or a private school. The 
local boards are even recommended to lake care, as much as possible, that the 
tuition in the schools of their towns shall not be entrusted to any other than 
masters of the first or second class. 

XXIV. A list containing the name, the rank, the nature, and the extent of 



PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. 19§ 

ihe abilities of each of those who shall have obtained deeds of general admis- 
sion as master, mistress, or teacher of languages, shall be published in the peri- 
odical work entitled ' Bydragen tot den tStaat,' &c., (which is still pub- 
lished.)" 

It is impossible not to see that the stimulating effect of a series of ex- 
aminations of this character, before a tribunal composed of qualified 
judges, must produce a class of teachers for the work of primary instruc- 
tion unequaled in any other part of the world. But the soul of the whole 
eystem is inspection, or in other words, active and vigilant superintend- 
ence, — intelligent direction, and real responsibility, — all of which are in- 
volved in the system of inspection carried out in Holland. Without 
inspection there can be no competent tribunal for the examination of 
teachers ; without inspection, local school committees and conductors of 
schools would be irresponsible to public opinion, inert and negligent ; 
without inspection there would be no person constantly at hand sufficiently 
informed upon the state of education to suggest the measures required 
for the promotion of its objects; without inspection there would be no dif- 
fusion of new ideas, no benefiting by the experience of others, no rivalry 
in improvement, no progress. The following extracts will show the man- 
ner in which the duties of inspection are provided lor. 

REGULATIONS FOR SCHOOL INSPECTORS, AND FOR THE BO.ARDS OF EDUCATION IN 
THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES. 

II. "Each inspector shall make himself acquainted with the number and 
situations of the primary schools, and also with the slate of primary instruction 
throughout the whole extent of his district. It shall be his duty to see that, be- 
sides the necessary number of ordinary schools, there shall be a sufficient num- 
ber of schools for children of tender age, organized in the best possible manner, 
and also schools of industry. Finally, he shall take care, that proper instruc- 
tion in all branches of primary education may be obtained, according to the 
circumstances and wants of the ditierent parishes. 

III. He shall make it his business to become personally acquainted with the 
different masters in his district, and with the extent of their fitness, and shall 
keep a note thereof 

IV. He shall make it his special business to excite and maintain the zeal of 
the masters ; and for that purpose, he shall at fixed periods require a certain 
number of them to meet him, either at his own house or in other parts of his 
district, and as frequently as possible.* 

V. The inspector shall be bound (o visit timce a year all the schools in his 
district, which are directly subject to his supervision. He is hereby exhorted 
to repeat those visits at different times, either when a particular case calls for 
it, or for ihe general good. 

VL In visiting the schools which are under his direct supervision, he shall 
call upon the master to teach Ihe pupils of the different classes in his presence, 
those which are in different stages of progress, in order that he may judge as to 
the manner in which the instruction is given and regulated. He shall also in- 
quire if the regulations concerning primary instruction, as well as the regula- 
tion for the internal order of the school, are duly observed and executed ; and 
he shall pay attention to everything which he believes to be of any importance. 
At the conclusion of the visit, the inspector shall have a private conversation 
with the master or mistress, upon all he has observed : and according as the 
case may be, he shall express approbation, give them advice, admonish, or cen- 
sure them, upon what he ma)' have seen or heard. Every school inspector 

* In compliance vyith the spirit of this nrticle, societies of schoolmasters have been formed, under 
the auspices of the inspectors, at different times, in the districts of each province, which keep up « 
(ivalry of improvement. They meet at stated times, generally every month. 



igg PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. 

shall keep notes of all remarks and observations which he shall have made in 
the course of his visits, to be used in the manner hereinafter provided. 

IX. They shall pay particular attention to improve the school-rooms ; to the 
education of the children of the poor, and especially in the villages and ham- 
lets ; to regulate and improve the incomes of the masters; and to the schools 
being kept open and attended without interruption, as much as possible, during 
the whole year. 

XVIII. The ordinary meetings of the boards shall be held in the towns where 
the provincial authorities reside, at least three times a year; the one during 
Easter week, the other two in the second week of July and October. 

XXIV. At each ordinary meeting, each member shall give in a written re- 
port:— 

1. Of the schools he has visited since the last meeting, stating the time of his 
visit, and the observations he then made regarding the state of the schools, in 
all the different particulars. 

2. Of the meetings he has held of the schoolmasters for the purpose of com- 
municating with them respecting their duties. 

3. Of the examinations which have taken place before him of masters of the 
lowest class, and of the higher classes, 

4. Of the changes and other events which shall have taken place in his dis- 
trict, relative to any school or schoolmaster, since the last meeting,and es- 
pecially all vacancies of masterships, the delivery of deeds of call, nomination, 
or special appointment of every degree and of every class, setting forth the 
most important circumstances connected with them: the appointment of local 
inspectors in places of minor extent ; the changes that may have occurred in 
the local school boards; the inspection of a new primary school or school of in- 
dustry; the admission of any teacher of languages; the drawing up of any 
rules for the internal order of schools ; the introduction of school books, other 
than those contained in the general list of books, in the private schools of both 
classes ; the measures that have been taken to regulate and improve the incomes 
of the masters; the measures that have been taken to secure the schools being 
uninterruptedly kept open and attended; any difficulties they may have en- 
countered ; the encouragement or otherwise which the masters may have met 
with ; and the examinations of pupils in the schools. The inspector shall fur- 
ther point out the particular parts which he wishes to have inserted in the 
above mentioned monthly publication, (Bydragen.) 

XXV. From these written documents and other private information, as well 
as from the written reports of the local school boards, (as mentioned in the fol- 
lowing article,) every school inspector shall draw up annually, previous to the 
meeting held in Easter week, a general report on the state of the schools and of 
primary instruction throughout his district. He shall state therein the reasons 
why he has not visited, or has not visited more than once, any particular school 
in the course of the preceding year. He shall state such proposals as appear 
to him deserving of attention, and which may tend to the improvement of pri- 
mary instruction. 

XXVI. In ordef that the school inspectors may not omit to mention, in their 
annual report, any of the particulars stated in the preceding article, the local 
school boards, or their individual members, in so far as concerns the schools 

filaced under their individual inspection, shall draw up a report in writing, simi- 
ar to that required from the school inspectors, before the end of February at 
latest. 

XXIX. At the conclusion of the ordinary meeting held in Easter week, each 
board shall forward, or cause to be forwarded within the space of four weeks, to 
the Secretary of State for the Home Department, besides the documents men- 
tioned in the preceding article, 
, 1. One of the two authentic copies of the annual general summary. 

2. The originals of the general reports of the different members of the 
boards. 

3. The originals of the annual written reports of the different local boards. 

4. A detailed statement, taken from the report of each of the members, of the 
proposals which each board shall be desirous of bringing under the considera- 
tion of the next annual general meeting, or which it has been resolved to lay 
before the provincial authorities." 



PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. J 97 



REGULATIONS RESPECTING THE GENERAL ORDER TO BE OBSERVED IN THE PRIMARY 

SCHOOLS. 

I. " The primary schools shall he open without intermission the whole year, 
except during the times fixed for the holidays. 

II. During the whole time devoted to the lessons, the master shall be present 
from the beginning to the end ; he shall not be engaged in any thing which is 
unconnected with the teaching, nor absent himself from school, except for rea- 
sons of absolute necessity. 

III. The master shall take care that the pupils do not unnecessarily go out ol 
school ; and especially that they be quiet and attentive; and, when in the play- 
ground, that they always conduct themselves in a peaceable, respectable, and 
modest manner. 

IV. When the number of pupils shall exceed seventy, measures shall be 
taken for providing a second master or an under master. 

V. The pupils shall be entered, as much as possible, at fixed terms in the 
course of the year. 

VI. At the opening and at the breaking up of each class, a Christian prayer, 
solemn, short, and suitable to the occasion, shall be said daily or weekly. At 
the same time, a hymn, adapted to the circumstances, may be sung. 

VII. The pupils shall be divided into three classes, each of which shall have 
its distinct place; and on every occasion when the school meets, each shall 
receive the instruction that belongs to it. 

VIII. The instruction shall be communicated simultaneously to all the pu- 
pils in the same class ; and the master shall take care that, during that time, 
the pupils in the two other classes are usefully employed. 

IX. The instruction in the different classes, and in the different branches 
taught, shall be as much as possible conveyed by the use of the black board. 

X. When the master shall think it advisable, he shall reward the most ad- 
vanced pupils by employing them to teach some parts of the lessons to the 
beginners. 

XI. The master shall take care that the pupils be at all times clean in their 
dress, well washed and combed, and he shall at the same time pay the strictest 
attention to every thing that may contribute to their health. 

XII. The school-rooms shall be at all times kept in proper order; for that 
purpose they shall be ventilated in the intervals of school hours, and cleaned 
out twice a week. 

XIII. An examination of each school shall take place at least once a year. 
Upon that occasion the pupils of a lower class shall be passed to a higher; and 
as far as circumstances will allow, rewards shall be given to those who have 
distinguished themselves by their application and good conduct. 

XIV. When a pupil at the end of the course of study shall leave the school, 
if he shall have distinguished himself by the progress he has made and by his 
good conduct, a certificate of honor shall be presented to him. 

XV. A code of regulations shall be drawn up for each particular school, and 
this, whether written or printed, shall be pasted on aboard, hung up in the room, 
and from time to time read and explained by the master. 

XVI. The said codes shall be issued by the authorities over each school ; 
their object shall be, to regulate the hours of teaching and how these shall be 
divided among the three classes." 

A.S the masters were prohibited from teaching any particular reh'gioue 
doctrine in the schools, the government, through the Secretary of State 
for the Home Department, addressed a circular letter to the different 
ecclesiastical bodies in the country, inviting them to take upon them- 
eelves, out of school hours, the whole instruction of the young, either by 
properly-arranged lessons in the catechism, or by any other means. An- 
Bwers were returned from the Synod of the Dutch Reformed church and 
other ecclesiastical bodies, assenting to the separation of doctrinal from 
the other instruction of the schools, and pledging themselves to extend 



198 PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. 

the former through their ministers of the different religious communiona. 
On the reception of these answers, the government authorized the pro 
vincial boards of education : 

"To exhort all schoolmasters to hand a complete list, every six months, 
of the names and residences of their pupils belonging to any religious 
communion to such as should apply for it ; and to take care that their 
pupils attend to the religious instruction provided for them. 

To invite the governors of orphan asylums and workhouses, and simi- 
lar establishments, to second the measures which the authorities of the 
communion shall take in reference to religious instruction. 

To exhort the school inspectors, and through them the local school 
boards, to co-operate, as far as possible, with the consistories and minis- 
ters in their efforts to give instruction in the doctrines of their religion, so 
long as they confine themselves to their special province, and do not inter- 
fere with the business of the schools or the authority of the persons in- 
trusted with their management by the government." 

Thus did the Batavian Republic provide that the children should be 
prepared for " the exercise of all the social and Christian virtues ;" well 
knowing, that if the schools did no more than impart a knowledge of the 
material world, there might be profound ignorance of the good and the 
beautiful, and of the true destiny of human nature. 



PRIMARY EDUCATION IN HOLLAND. 



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PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL* 

AT HAARLEM, IN HOLLAND. 



This school is peculiar in regard to instruction, practice in teaching, and 
discipline. It is intended to prepare for at least the second grade among 
primary teachers, which, it will be remembered, qualifies for the mastership 
of any primary school, the first class being an honorary grade. The age of 
admission, the time of continuance, and the courses of instruction, are regu- 
lated accordingly. 

The director! is the head of the institution, and controls absolutely all its 
arrangements. His principle, that a teacher in such a place should be left 
to study the character and dispositions of his pupils, and to adapt his in- 
struction and discipline to them, dispenses with rules and regulations, or 
constitutes the director the rulcj To carry out this principle, requires that 
the school should not be numerous, and it is accordingly limited to forty 
pupils. There is an assistant to the director, who shares in the general in- 
struction with him, and upon whom the religious teaching of the pupils spe- 
cially devolves. The school is visited periodically by the inspector-general, 
who examines the pupils personally, and notes their general and individual 
proficiency. 

To be admitted, a youth must be over fifteen years of age, and have 
passed an examination upon the studies of the elementary school, satisfactory 
to a district-inspector, who recommends him for admission. He is received 
on probation, and, at the end of three months, if his conduct and proficiency 
are satisfactory to the director, is recommended to the minister of public in- 
struction, who confirms his appointment. 

The course of theory and practice lasts four years in general, though, if a 
pupil have the third lower grade of public instruction in view, which is at- 
tainable at eighteen years of age, he is not required to remain connected 
with the institution beyond that age, and indeed may leave it, on his own 
responsibility, before the close of the regular course. The second grade is 
only attainable at the age of twenty-two, and hence it is not usual for pupils 
to enter this school as early as the law permits. The theoretical instruction 
is composed of a review and extension of the elementary branches, as the 
Dutch language, geography, arithmetic, elementary geometry, the history of 
the country, natural history, religion, writing, and vocal music, and also of 
general geography and history, natural philosophy, and the science and art 
of teaching. This is communicated in the evenings, the pupils meeting at 
the school for the purpose. During the day they are occupied in receiving 
practical instruction, by teaching under the inspection of the director in the 
elementary school already spoken of, attached to the normal school, and oc- 
cupying its rooms, or in teaching in some other of the elementary schools of 
the town of Haarlem. They pass through different establishments in turn, so 
as to see a variety in the character of instruction. The director, as inspector 
of primary schools in this district, visits frequently those where his pupils 
are employed, and observes their teaching, and also receives a report from 

* From Bache's Education in Europe. 

+ Mr. Prinsen, one of a class of teachers who adorn this profession in Holland. 

X When M. Cousin, in his visit to Haarlem, invited Mr. Prinsen to communicate to him the 
regulations of his school, and then to show him how they were carried out, first the rule, then the 
results, the director replied, " I am the rule." 



202 PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT HAARLEM. 

the masters. The observations and reports are turned to account in subse- 
quent meetings with his class. 

The pupils do not board together in the normal school, but are distributed 
through the town, in certain families selected by the director. They form a 
part of these families during their residence with them, being responsible to 
the head for the time of their absence from the house, their hours, and con- 
duct. They take their meals with the families, and are furnished with a 
study and sleeping-room, fire, lights, &c. The director pays the moderate 
sum required for this accommodation from the annual stipend allowed by 
government.* The efficiency of such a system depends, of course, upon the 
habits of fiimily life of the country, and upon the locality where the school 
is established. In Holland and Haarlem the plan succeeds well, and has the 
advantage that the pupils are constantly, in a degree, their own masters, and 
must control themselves, and that they are never placed in an artificial state of 
society or kind of life, which is the case when they are collected in one estab- 
lishment. The director makes frequent visits to these families, and is in- 
formed of the home character of his pupils. The discipline of a normal 
school is, of course, one of the easiest tasks connected with it, for impro- 
prieties or levities of conduct are inconsistent with the future calling of the 
youth. Admonition by the assistant and by the director are the only coer- 
cive means resorted to, previous to dismission. The director has authority 
to dismiss a student without consulting the minister, merely reporting the 
fact and case to him. Though this power may be important in increasing 
his influence, yet it has been necessary to exercise it but three times in 
twenty years. There are two vacations of from four to six weeks each, 
during which the pupils, in general, return to their friends. The school has 
a lending-library of books relating to teaching, and of miscellaneous works. 
This useful institution supplies for the primary schools, every year, from 
eight to twelve well-prepared masters, who propagate throughout the coun- 
try the excellent methods and principles of teaching here inculcated. 

* This annual stipend is ninety dollars. Supposing that a student has an entire buraary, he 
will require some additional funds to support him while at the school; for his board, lodging, 
&c., cost two dollars per week, which, for the forty-two weeks of terra-lime, amonnts to eighty- 
foiu' dollars, leaving him but six dollars for incidental expenses. 



BELGIUM. 



At the time of the revolution which separated Belgium from Holland, 
Belgium was making as rapid progress as any portion of the kingdom of 
the Netherlands, in organizing and improving public education. But on 
the breaking up of existing institutions, which the separation caused, edu- 
cation became a party question, the control of the state was relaxed, and 
schools were left to the sense of parental interest, and benevolent duty. 
Liberty of education was proclaimed ; the right of every parent to do as 
he pleases in the education of his own children, was asserted and obtained ; 
and the results were, the best schools in the large cities, which had grown 
up under the fostering care of the government, and the stimulus of con- 
stant, vigilant and intelligent inspection, were broken up. The best mas- 
ters left the pubhc schools, and engaged in other business, or set up pri- 
vate schools. Broken-down tradesmen, and men who had proved their 
unfitness for other work requiring activity and culture of mind, gained 
admittance to the public schools, especially to those in the country, be- 
cause there was no longer any sufficient test of qualification for the work 
of instruction enforced by government. " In ten years," said one of the 
most intelligent school directors in Brussels, to Mr. Hickson, " education 
has gone back in this country, one hundred years." "The contrast be- 
tween Holland as it now is, and Belgium, in educational matters," remarks 
an intelligent traveler, in 1842, "is striking; in the latter, there is no cen- 
tral impulse and control, no inspector-general, no provisional commission, 
no corps of district inspectors, no Normal School, no training of teachers, 
no association of teachers and friends of education, no ordeal to test capa- 
city. Nothing can be more deplorable than the mockery of education 
which the people in several localities are satisfied that teachers, or those 
who profess to be teachers, — the odds and ends of society, — should prac- 
tice in the rural districts." 

So rapidly was Belgium sinking in the scale of European nations, in 
the condition of education, that the fact arrested the attention of gov- 
ernment, and above all, enlisted the well-directed efforts of individuals 
and associations, to remedy the evil. The first step was to ascertain and 
proclaim the fact. Mr. Ducpetiaux, one of the warmest and most active 
friends of popular education in Belgium, published a series of tracts " on 
the condition of primary instruction, and the necessity of improvement;" 



204 NORMAL SCHOOLS IN BELGIUM. 

and a larger work, (two octavo volumes,) contrasting the schools in Bel- 
gium, with those of Germany, Prussia, Holland, France and Switzerland. 
M. Vandermaelon, through the aid of individuals and a society of practi- 
cal teachers, established, in 1839, a Normal course of instruction, in con- 
nection with a private seminary, of which he is at the head. In 1842 
there were 125 Normal pupils. Stimulated by these efforts, and the well- 
ascertained, and generally-acknowledged fact, that Belgium had fallen 
below, and was every year falling still more behind Holland, in the con- 
dition of the people, the government have organized anew the system of 
pubhc instruction, and are now taking steps to establish two Normal 
Schools, in connection with a system of inspection substantially the same 
as that which was in operation before the revolution of 1835, and which 
is still in operation in Holland. 



FRANCE. 



Before 1789, religious zeal, the spirit ofassociation, the desire of living 
honorably in the recollection of mankind as the founder of pious or learned 
institutions, individual enterprise, and to some extent government endow- 
ment, had covered France with establishments of higher education, and 
with men consecrated to their service. This was particularly true with 
regard to schools for classical education, and the instruction generally of 
all but the poorer classes of society. In grammar schools and colleges, 
France was as well provided in 1789, as in 1849. In the upbreak and 
overthrow of government and society, which took place between 1789 and 
1794, and which was, in no small measure, the result of the neglected edu- 
cation of the great mass of the people, these public endowments, many of 
which had existed for centuries, were destroyed, and these religious and 
lay congregations, such as the Benedictines, Jesuits, Oratoriana, Doctrin- 
aires, Lazaristes, and Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, were abolished, 
their property confiscated, and most of them were never again re-estab- 
lished. From 1791 to 1794, by various ordinances of the Convention, a 
system of public schools was pi-ojected, in which primary education was to 
be free to all at the expense of the State. Out of these ordinances sprung 
the first Normal School in France, and the Polytechnic School in 1794. 
But the promise of good primary schools was not realized, and the Nor- 
mal School was abolished in the following year. In 1802 the promise was 
renewed in a new ordinance, but amid the din of arms, the peculiar fruits 
of peace could not ripen. In 1808 Napoleon organized the Imperial Uni- 
versity, embracing under that designation the governmental control of 
all the educational institutions of France, primary, secondary, and supe- 
rior. In one of his decrees, primary instruction (intended for the masses 
of society) was limited to reading, writing and arithmetic, and the legal 
authorities were enjoined " to watch that the teachers did not carry their 
instructions beyond these limits." Under the organization established by 
Napoleon, and with vieAvs of primary education but little expanded be- 
yond the imperial ordinance referred to, and with even these limited views 
unrealized, the government continued to administer the system of public 
education till the Revolution of 1830, In the mean time the wants of a 
more generous and complete system of primary Bchools had been felt 



206 PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 

throughout France; and one of the first steps of the new government was 
to supply this want, and most considerately and thoroughly was the work 
accomplished. Not only were steps taken to increase the number and 
efficiency of the schools already established, by additional appropriations 
for their support, but the Department of Public Instruction was re-organ- 
ized. Normal Schools for the education of Teachers were multiplied, 
and made effective, and the experience of the best educated states in 
Europe was consulted in reference to the reconstruction of the whole 
system. 

There is nothing in the history of modern civilization more truly sub- 
lime than the establishment of the present Law of Primary Instruction in 
France. As has been justly remarked by an English writer, " Few na- 
tions ever suffered more bitter humiliation than the Prussians and French 
mutually inflicted during the earlier years of the present century ; and 
it was supposed that feelings of exasperation and national antipathy 
thus engendered by the force of circumstances, were ready, on the match 
being applied, to burst forth in terrible explosion. At the very time, 
however, when the elements of mischief were believed to be most active 
in the breasts of a people jealous of their honor, and peculiarly sensitive 
to insult, the French ministry, with the consent of the King and Cham- 
bers, send one of their ablest and wisest citizens, not to hurl defiance or 
demand restitution, but to take lessons in the art of training youth to 
knowledge and virtue, and that too in the capital of the very nation whose 
troops, sixteen years before, had, on a less peaceful mission, bivouacked 
in the streets of Paris, and planted their victorious cannon at the passages 
of her bridges. There are not many facts in the past history of mankind 
more cheering than this ; not many traits of national character more mag- 
nanimous, or indicating more strikingly the progress of reason, and the 
coming of that time when the intercourse between nations will consist not 
in wars and angry protocols, but in a mutual interchange of good offices." 

M. Victor Cousin, one of the most profound and popular writers of the 
age, in one department of literature, who was sent on this peaceful mis- 
sion in the summer of 1831, submitted in the course of the year to his 
government, a " Report on the condition of Public Instruction in Germa- 
ny^ and particularly in Prussia.'''' This able document was published, 
and in defiance of national self-love, and the strongest national antipathies, 
it carried conviction throughout France. It demonstrated to the govern- 
ment and the people the immense superiority of all the German States, 
even the most insignificant duchy, over any and every department of 
France, in all that concerned inslitutionsof primary and secondary educa- 
tion. The following extracts will indicate the conclusions to which 
Cousin arrives in reference to the educational wants of his own country. 
After pronouncing the school law of Prussia " the most comprehensive 
and perfect legislative measure regarding primary instruction" with 
which he was acquainted, he thus addresses himself to the minister: 

" Without question, in the present state of things, a law concerning primary 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 207 

instruction is indispensable in France ; the question is, how to produce a good 
one, in a country where there is a total absence of all precedent and all experi- 
ence in so grave a matter. The education of the people has hitherto been so 
neglected, — so few trials have been made, or those trials have succeeded so ill, 
that we are entirely without those universally received notions, those predilec- 
tions rooted in the habits and the mind of a nation, which are the conditions and 
the bases of all good legislation. I wish, then, for a law ; and at the same lime 
I dread it ; for 1 tremble lest we should plunge into visionary and impracticable 
projects again, without attending to what actually exists. 

The idea of compelling parents to send their children to school is perhaps not 
sufficiently diffused through the nation to justify the experiment of making it 
law; but everybody agrees in regarding the establishment of a school in every 
comviune as necessary. It is also willingly conceded that the maintenance of 
this school must rest with the conimun-e ; always provided that, in case of inabil- 
ity through poverty, the commmie shall apply to the department, and the depart- 
ment to the state. This point may be assumed as universally admitted, and 
may therefore become law. 

You are likewise aware that many of the councils of departments have felt 
the neces.sity of securing a supply of schoolmasters, and a more complete edu- 
cation for them, and have, with this view, established primary Normal Schools 
iu their departments. Indeed, they have often shown rather prodigality than 
parsimony on this head. This, too, is a most valuable and encouraging indica- 
tion ; and a law ordaining the establishment of a primary Normal School in 
each department, as well as a primary school in each covimime, would do 
little more than confirm and generalize what is now acluallj' doing in almost 
all parts of the country. Of course this primary Normal School must be more 
or less considerable according to the resources of each department. 

Here we have already two most important points on which the country is 
almost unanimously agreed. You have also, without doubt, been struck by the 
petitions of a number of towns, great and small, for the establishment of schools 
of a class rather higher than the common primary schools; such as, though 
still inferior in classical and scientific studies to our royal and communal col- 
leges, might be more particularly adapted to give that kind of generally useful 
knowledge indispensable to the large portion of the population which is not in- 
tended for the learned professions, but which yet needs more extended and varied 
acquirements than the class of day-laborers and artisans. Such petitions are 
almost universal. Several municipal councils have voted considerable funds 
for the purpose, and have applied to us for the necessary authority, for advice 
and assistance. It is impossible not to regard this as the symptom of a real 
want, — the indication of a serious deficiency in our system of public instruction. 

You are sufficiently acquainted with my zeal for classical and scientific 
studies ; not only do I think that we must keep up to the plan of study prescribed 
in our colleges, and particularly the philological part of that plan, but I think we 
ought to raise and extend it, and thus, while we maintain our incontestable 
.superiority in the physical and mathematical sciences, endeavor to rival Ger- 
many in the solidity of our classical learning. 

Let our royal colleges then, and even a great proportion of our communal col- 
leges, continue to lead the youth of France into this sanctuary; they will merit 
the thanks of their country. But can the whole population enter learned 
schools ■? or, indeed, is it to be wished that it should 1 Primary instruction with 
us, however, is but meager; between that and the colleges there is nothing; so 
that a tradesman, even in the lower ranks of the middle classes, who has the 
honorable wish of giving his sons a good education, has no resource but to send 
them to the college. Two great evils are the consequence. In general, these 
boys, who know that they are not destined to any very distinguished career, go 
through their studies in a negligent manner; they never get beyond mediocrity; 
and when, at about eighteen, they go back to the habits and the business of their 
fathers, as there is nothing in their ordinary life to recall or to keep up their 
studies, a few years obliterate every trace of the little classical learning they 
acquired. On the other hand, these young men often contract tastes and ac- 
quaintances at college which render it difficult, nay, almost inTpossible, for them 
to return to the humble way of life to which they were born : hence a race of 
men restless, discontented with their position, with others, and with them- 
selves ; enemies of a state of society in which they feel themselves out of their 



208 PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 

Slace ; and with some acquirements, some real or imagined talent, and unbri- 
led ambition, ready to rush into any career of servility or of revolt. The ques- 
tion then is, whether we are prepared to make ourselves responsible to the state 
and society for training up such a race of malcontents 1 Unquestionably, as I 
shall ta'ke occasion to say elsewhere, a certain number of exhibitions (bourses) 
ought to be given to poor boys who evince remarkable aptness : this is a sacred 
duty we owe to talent ; a duty which must be fuliilled, even at the risk of being 
sometimes mistaken. These boys, chosen for the promise they give, go through 
their studies well and thoroughly, and on leaving school experience the same 
assistance they received on entering. Thus they are enabled, at a later period 
of life, to display their talents in the learned and liberal professions which are 
open to them, to the advantage of the state to which they owe their education. 
As, however, it is impossible for any government to find employment for every 
body, it ought not to furnish facilities for every body to quit the track in which 
his fathers have trod. Our colleges ought, without doubt, to remain open to all 
who can pay the expense of them ; but we ought by no means to force the lower 
classes into them; yet this is the inevitable effect of having no intermediate 
establishments between the primary schools and the colleges. Germany and 
Prussia more especially, are rich in establishments of this kind. You per- 
ceive that I allude to the schools called tradesmen's or burghers' schools, or 
schools for the middle classes, (Burgerschulen,) ecoles bourgeoises, a name which 
it is perhaps impossible to transplant into France, but which is accurate and 
expressive, as contradistinguishing them from the learned schools, (Gelehrtes- 
chulen,) called in Germany gymnasia, and in France colleges, (in England, 
" grammar-schools,'-') a name, too, honorable to the class for whose especial use 
and benefit they are provided ; honorable to those of a lower class, who by fre- 
quenting them can rise to a level with that above them. The burgher schools 
form the higher step of primary instruction, of which the elementary schools are 
the lower step. Thus there are but two steps or gradations : 1°. Elementary 
schools, — the common basis of all popular instruction in town and country ; 20. 
Burgher schools, which, in towns of some size and containing a middle class, 
furnish an education sufficiently extensive and liberal to all who do not intend 
to enter the learned professions. The Prussian law, which fixes a minimum 
of instrucQon for the elementary schools, likewise fixes a minimum of instruc- 
tion for the burgher schools; and there are two kinds of examination, extremely 
distinct, for obtaining the brevet of primary teacher for these two grada- 
tions. The elementary instruction must be uniform and invariable, for the 
primary schools represent the body of the nation, and are destined to nourish 
and to strengthen the national unity; and, generally speaking, it is not expedi- 
ent that the limit fixed by the law for elementary instruction should be exceeded: 
but this is not the case with the burgher schools, for these are designed for a 
class among whom a great many shades and diversities exist, — the middle class. 
It is therefore natural and reasonable that it should be susceptible of extension 
and elevation, in proportion to the importance of the town, and the character of 
the population for whom it is destined. In Prussia this class of schools has, 
accordingly, very different gradations, from the minimum fixed by the law, to 
that point where it becomes closely allied with the gymnasium, properly so 
called. At this point it sometimes takes the name of Progymnasium, or pre- 
paratory gymnasia, in which classical and scientific instruction stops short 
within certain limits, but in which the middle or trading class may obtain a 
truly liberal education. In general, the German burgher schools, which are a 
little inferior to our communal colleges in classical and scientific studies, are in- 
comparably superior to them in religious instruction, geography, history, modern 
languages, music, drawing, and national literature. 

In my opinion, it is of the highest importance to create in France, under one 
name or another, burgher schools, or schools for the middle classes, which give 
a very varied education ; and to convert a certain number of our communal 
colleges into schools of that description. I regard this as an affair of state. 

There is a cry raised from one end of France to the other, demanding on be- 
half of three-fourths of the population, establishments which may fill the middle 
ground between the simple elementary schools and the colleges. The demands 
are urgent and almost unanimous. 

The most difficult point in law on primary instruction is the determination 
what are the authorities to be employed. Here also let us consult facts. The 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 209 

French administration is the glory and the masterwork of the imperial govern- 
ment. The organization of France imnaires and prefectures, with municipal 
and departmental councils, is the foundation of government and of social order. 
This foundation has stood firm amidst so much ruin, that prudence and policy 
seem to point to it as the best and safest prop. Moreover, this organization 
has just been reformed and vivified by rendering the municipal and depart- 
mental councils elective and popular. Thus the French administration unites 
all that we want, activity and popularity. The administration, then, is what 
you must call to your aid. Recollect, also, that it is these local councils that 
pay, and that you can not fairly expect much from them unless they have a 
large share in the disbursement of the money they have voted. These councils 
are chosenout of the body of the people, and return to it again; they are inces- 
santly in contact with Ihe people; they are the people legally represented, as the 
maires and the prefects are these councils embodied, if I may so say, in one per- 
son, for the sake of activity and despatch. I regard, then, as another incontest- 
able point, the necessary intervention of the municipal and departmental coun- 
cils in the management of public instruction. As there ought to be a school in 
every commnnc, so there ought to be for every communal school a special com- 
mittee of superintendence, which ought to be formed out of the municipal coun- 
cil, and presided over by the mairc. I shall perhaps be told, that men who are 
fit to conduct the business of the commune are not fit to superintend the communal 
school. I deny it : nothing is wanted for this superintendence but zeah and 
fathers of families can not want zeal where their dearest interests are concerned. 
In Prussia no difficulty is found in this matter, and every parish-school has its 
Schulv or stand, in great part elective. Over the heads of these local committees 
there ought to be a central committee in the chief town of each department, 
chosen out of the council of the department, and presided over by the prefect. 
The committee of each commune would correspond with the committee of the 
department; that is to say, in short, the maire, with the prefect. This corres- 
pondence would stimulate the zeal of both committees. By it, the departmental 
committee would know what is the annual supply of schoolmasters required for 
the whole department, and consequently, the number of masters the Normal 
School of the department ought to furnish, and consequently, the number of 
pupils it ought to admit. It would have incessantly to urge on the zeal of the 
local committees in establishing and improving schools, for the sake of provi- 
ding as well as possible lor the pupils it sends out of its Normal School. Nothing 
can be more simple than this organization. It is, applied to primary instruc- 
tion, what takes place in the ordinary administration : I mean, the combined 
action of the municipal councils and the departmental councils, — of the maires 
and the prefects. 

After the administrative authorities, it is unquestionably the clergy who 
ought to occupy the most important place in the business of popular education. 
The rational middle course is to put the cure or the pastor, i. e. the Catholic 
and the Protestant clergyman — and if need be both, on every communal com- 
mittee ; and the highest dignitary of the church in each department, on the 
departmental committee. We must neither deliver over our committees into 
the hands of the clergy, nor exclude them ; we must admit them, because they 
have a right to be there, and to represent the religion of the country. The 
men of good sense, good manners, and of consideration in their neighborhood, 
of whom the.se committees ought to be, and will be, composed, will gradually 
gain ascendancy over their ecclesiastical colleagues, by treating them with 
the respect due to their sacred functions. We must have the clergy; we must 
neglect nothing to bring them into the path toward which every thing urges 
them to turn; both their obvious interest, and their sacred calling, and the 
ancient services which their order rendered to the cause of civilization in 
Europe. But if we wish to have the clergy allied with us in the work of popu- 
lar instruction, that instruction must not be stripped of morality and religion ; 
for then indeed it would become the duty of the clergy to oppose it, and they 
would have the sympathy of all virtuous men, of all good fathers of families, 
and even of the mass ol" the people, on their side. Thank God, you are too 
enlightened a statesman to think that true popular instruction can exist without 
moral education, popular morality without religion, or popular religion without 
a church. 

The proceedings of the communal and departmental committees, the maires, 

14 



210 PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 

sub-prefects and prefects, ought, like all the other parts of the administration, to 
refer to one common center, from which a vigorous impulse and a supreme 
guidance may emanate, and upon whom all the responsibility before ihe cham- 
bers may rest. This center, in France, as in Prussia, is, the ministry and coun- 
cil of public instruction. This is not only according to law, but to nature and 
reason. It is perfectly consistent to leave primary instruction to the minister 
who has all the rest of public instruction, as well as ecclesiastical affairs, in 
his hands; that is to say, the two things with which the education of the people 
is the most intimately connected. Has any evil resulted from the present order 
of things'! Far from it: every body is agreed that the minister and his council 
have done a great deal for primary instruction since the revolution of July. 
As you would have been able to effect nothing without the municipal and de- 
partmental councils, the makes and prefects, so those authorities acknowledge 
that they could have done little or nothing without your co-operation and 
direction. It is you who excited their zeal, who supported and encouraged 
them; you who, as the enlightened dispenser of the funds placed in your hands 
by the two chambers, have given vigor to public instruction by giving propor- 
tionate aid to necessitous places. 

I strongly recommend the creation of a special inspector of primary instruc- 
tion for each department. Our academical inspectors should be reserved for 
schools of the second class, whicli will suffice, and more than sutJice, to employ 
all their powers, and all their diligence. Your natural agents and correspond- 
ents for primary instruction are the prefects, who would preside over the de- 
partmental cornmittees, and to whom the correspondence of viaires and com- 
munal committees, as well as the report of the departmental inspector, would 
be addressed. 

The prefects would correspond otficially with you, as they have hitherto done 
extra-officially; and there would be a councilor in the central council of public 
instruction, specially charged with the reports to be made on that portion of the 
business, as in fact there is now. This machinery is very simple, and would 
produce quick results; being less complex, it would woik more freely. The 
only thing in which I would employ agents taken from the body of teachers 
would be, the cpmmission of examination appointed for granting schoolmasters' 
brevets. No one disputes that professors have peculiar qualifications, and all 
the necessary impartiality, for that office. I should wish, then, that the exam- 
ination-commission should be appointed by you, and composed of masters or 
professors of the royal or the communal colle2:cs of the department; adding, for 
the religious part, a clergyman proposed by the bishop. 

As to private teachers, and what people are pleased to call liberty of primary 
tuition, we must neither oppose it, nor reckon upon it. There are branches of 
the public service which must be secured against all casualties by the state, and 
in the first rank of these is primary instruction. It is the bounden duty of gov- 
ernment to guarantee it against all caprices of public opinion, and against the 
variable and uncertain calculations of those who would engage in it as a means 
of subsistence. On this principle are founded our priinary Normal Schools in 
each department, bound to furnish annually the average number of schoolmas- 
ters required by the department. We must rely exclusively on these Normal 
Schools for the regular supply of communal teachers. 

But if, in the face of our primary communal schools, there are persons who, 
without having passed through the Normal Schools, choose to establish schools 
at their own risk and peril, it is obvious that they ought not only to be tolerated, 
but encouraged; just as we rejoice that private institutions and boarding- 
schools should spring up beside our royal and communal colleges. This compe- 
tition can not be otherwise than useful, in every point of view. If the private 
schools prosper, so much the better; they are at full liberty to try all sorts of 
aew methods, and to make experiments in teaching, which, on such a scale, 
can not be very perilous. At all events, there are our Normal Schools. Thus 
all interests are reconciled; the dutiesofthe state, and the rights of individuals; 
the claims of experience, and those of innovation. Whoever wishes to set up a 
private school must be subject to only two conditions, from which no school, 
public or private, can on any pretext be exempt, — the brevet of capacity, given 
by the commission of examination, and the supervision of the committee of the 
"Commune and of the inspector of the department. 

All these measures, on which I will not enlarge, are more or less founded on 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 211 

existing facts ; they have the sanction of experience; it would be simply ad- 
vantageous to add that of law. On all the points concerning which the law is 
silent, experiments might be made. Among these experiments some would 
probably be successful : when sufficiently long practice had confirmed them, 
they might be inserted in a new law ; or ordonnanccs and instructions, maturely 
weighed by the royal council, would convert them into general and official 
measures. Nothing must pass into a law which has not the warranty of suc- 
cess. Laws are not to be perilous experiments on society ; they ought simply 
to sum up and to generalize the lessons of experience." 

On the experience of Prussia as a basis, a great and comprehensive 
measure of elementary education for France was framed by M. Guizot. 
The bill was reported in 1832. In introducing the measure to the con- 
isideration of the Chamber of Deputies, M. Guizot made a speech as 
remarkable for its eloquence as for its large and liberal views of popular 
education, as will be indicated by the following passages: 

" In framing this bill, it is experience, and experience alone, that we have 
taken for our guide. The principles and practices recommended have been 
supplied to us by facts. There is not one part of the mechanism which has not 
been worked successfully. We conceive that, on the subject of the education 
of the people, our business is rather to methodize and improve what exists, than 
to destroy for the purpose of inventing and renewing upon the faith of dangerous 
theories. It is by laboring incessantly on these maxims, that the Administra- 
tion has been enabled to communicate a firm and steady movement to this im- 
portant branch of the public service ; so much so, that we take leave to say, 
that more has been done for primary education during the last two years, (1831, 
1832,) and by the Government of July, than during the forty years preceding, 
by all the former Governments. The first Revolution was lavish of promises, 
without troubling itself about the performance. The Imperial Government ex- 
hausted itself in eiforts to regenerate the higher instruction, called secondary; 
but did nothing for that of the people. The restored Dynasty, up to 1828, ex- 
pended no more than 50,000 francs annually upon primary instruction. The 
Ministry of 1828 obtained from the Chamber a grant of 300,000 francs. Since 
the Revolution of July, 1830, a million has been voted annually — that is, more 
in two years than the Restoration in fifteen. Those are the means, and here are 
the results. All of you are aware that primary instruction depends altogether 
on the corresponding Normal Schools. The prosperity of these establishments 
is the measure of its progress. The Imperial Government, which first pronounc- 
ed with effect the words, Normal Schools, left us a legacy of one. The Restor- 
ation added five or six. Those, of which some were in their infancy, we have 
greatly improved within the last two years, and have, at the same time, estab- 
lished thirty new ones ; twenty of which are in full operation, forming in each 
department a vast focus of light, scattering its rays in all directions among the 
people." 

The Bill recognized two degrees of primary instruction, viz. elementa- 
ry and superior, in speaking of which M. Guizot remarks: 

" The first degree of instruction should be common to the country and the 
towns ; it should be met with in the humblest borough, as well as in the largest 
city, wherever a human being is to be found within our land of France. By 
the teaching of reading, writing, and accounts, it provides for the most essential 
wants of life; by that of the legal system of weights and measures, and of the 
French language, it implants, enlarges, and spreads every where the spirit and 
tinity of the French nationality ; finally, by moral and religious instruction, it 
provides for another class of wants quite as real as the others, and which Prov- 
idence has placed in the hearts of the poorest, as well as of the richest, in this 
world, for upholding the dignity of human life and the protection of social order. 
The first degree of instruction is extensive enough to make a man of him who 
will receive it, and is, at the same time, sufficiently limited to be every where 
realized. It is the strict debt of the country toward all its children. 

But the law is so framed, that by higher elementary schools, primary in- 



222 PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 

struction can be so developed, so varied, as to satisfy the wants of those profes- 
sions which, though not scientific, yet require to be acquainted with ' the ele- 
ments of science, as they apply it every day in (he office, the workshop, and 
field.'" 

On the plan of supervision of schools, which embraced both local and 
state inspection, the Minister remarks: 

•' In the first place, this operation demands, at cerlain times of the year, much 
more time, application, and patience, than can reasonably be expected from 
men of the world, like the member of the council of the arrondis.sement and of 
the department; or from men of business, necessarily confined to their homes, 
like the members of the municipal council. In the next place, positive and 
technical knowledge of the various matters on which the examination turns is 
absolutely necessary ; and it is not sufficient to have such knowledge, it must 
have been prov^ed to exist, in order to give to these examinations the requisite 
weight and authority. For these reasons, the members of these commissions 
ought to be, in great part, men specially qualified — men familiar with the busi- 
ness of tuition. It is evident that primary instruction rests entirely on these 
examinations. Suppose a little negligence, a little false indulgence, a little 
ignorance, and it is all over with primary instruction. It is necessary then, to 
compose these commissions with the most scrupulous severity, and to appoint 
only persons versed in the matter." 

The necessity of providing for the professional education and training 

of teachers is thus eloquently set forth: 

"All the provisions hitherto described would be of none effect, if we tookno 
pains to procure for the public school thus constituted, an able master, and 
worthy of the high vocation of instructing the people. It can not be too often 
repeated, that it is the master that makes the school. And, indeed, what a 
well-assorted union of qualities is required to constitute a good schoolmaster! 
A good schoolmaster ought to be a man who knows much more than he is 
called upon to teach, that he may teach with intelligence and with taste ; who is 
to live in a humble sphere, and yet to have a noble and elevated mind, that he 
may preserve that dignity of sentiment andofdeportmenl, without which he will 
never obtain the respect and confidence of families ; who possesses a rare mix- 
ture of gentleness and firmness; for, inferior though he be in station to many 
individuals in the commune, he ought to be the obsequious servant of none ; — a 
man not ignorant of his rights, but thinking much more of his duties ; showing 
to all a good example, and serving to all as a counselor ; not given to change 
his condition, but satisfied with his situation, because it gives him the power of 
doing good ; and who has made up his mind to live and to die in the service of 
primary instruction, which to him is the service of God and his fellow-crea- 
tures. To rear masters approaching to such a model is a difficult task ; and yet 
we must succeed in it, or else we have done nothing for elementary instruction. 
A bad schoolmaster, like a bad parish priest, is a scourge to a commune ; and 
though we are often obliged to be contented with indifferent ones, we must do 
our best to improve the average quality. We have, therefore, availed our- 
selves of a bright thought struck out in the heat of the R,evolution, by a decree 
of the National Convention, in 1794, and afterward applied by Napoleon, in 
his decree, in 1808, for the organization of the University, to the establishment 
of his central Normal School at Paris. We carry its application still lower 
than he did in the social scale, when we propose that no school-master shall be 
appointed who has not himself been a pupil of the school which instructs in the 
art of teaching, and who is not certified, after a strict examination, to have 
profiled by the opportunities he has enjoyed." 

No statesman of any age or country, has expressed in language at once 

eloquent and just, a more exalted estimate of the mission of the teacher. 

Although not uttered in this connection, the following passages will 

illustrate the views presented above : 

" Humble as the career of a schoolmaster may be, and though doomed to pass 
his whole existence most frequently within the sphere of a small community, 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 213 

his labors are, nevertheless, felt throughout society at large, and his profession 
is as important as that of any other public functionary. It is not for any par- 
ticular parish alone, or merely local interest, that the law demands that every 
man should acquire, if possible, the knowledge which is indispensable in social 
life, and without which intelligence often languishes and degenerates; it is for 
the slate itself and the public interest; it is because liberty is certain and 
steadfast only among people enlightened enough to listen, in every circum- 
stance, to the voice of Reason. Public elementary instruction is one of the 
guarantees of order and social stability. Doomed to pass his life in discharg- 
ing the monotonous duties of his vocation, sometimes even in struggling with 
the injustice or the ingratitude of ignorance, the parish schoolmaster would 
often repine, and perhaps sink under his afflictions, did he not draw strength 
and courage from another and higher source than that of immediate and mere 
personal interest. A deep sense of the moral importance of his duties must 
support and encourage him; and the austere pleasure of having rendered ser- 
vice to mankind, must become the worthy recompense which his own con- 
science alone can give. It is his glory to pretend to nothing beyond the sphere 
of his obscure and laborious condition ; to exhaust his strength in sacrifices 
which are scarcely noticed by those who reap their benefit; to labor, in short, 
for his fellow-beings, and to look for his reward only to God. 

Your first duty is toward the children confided to your care. The teacher is 
summoned upon bj' the parent to share his authority; this auihority he must 
exercise with the same vigilance, and almost with the sam.e atfection. Not 
only is the health of the children commuted to him, but the cultivation of their 
affections and intelligence depends almost entirely on him. In all that con- 
cerns education, as it is generally understood, you shall want for nothing that 
can be of service to you; but as to the moral education of the children, f trust 
especially to you. Nothing can supply for you, the desire of faithfully doing 
what is right. You must be aware, that, in confiding a child to your care, 
every family expects that you will send him back an honest man; the country, 
that he will be made a good citizen. You know that virtue does not always 
follow in the train of knowledge ; and that the lessons received by children 
might become dangerous to them, were they addressed exclusively to the under- 
standing. Let the teacher, therefore, bestow his first care on the cultivation of 
the moral qualities of his pupils. He must unceasingly endeavor to propagate 
and establish those imperishable principles of morality and reason — withont 
■which, universal order is in danger; and to sow in the hearts of the young 
those seeds of virtue and honor, which age, riper years, and the passions, will 
never destroy Faith in Divine providence, the sacredness of duty, submission 
to parental authority, the respect due to the laws, to the king, and to the rights 
of every one— such are the sentiments which the teacher wijj strive to develop. 
The intercourse between the teacher and parents can not fail of being frequent. 
Over this, kindness must preside: were a teacher not to possess the respect and 
sympathy of the parents, his authority over their children would be compro- 
mised, and the fruit of his lessons lost; he can not, therefore, be too careful and 
prudent in regard of these connections. An intimacy inconsiderately formed 
might injure his independence, and sometimes even mix him up with those 
local dissensions which frequently distract small communities. While civilly 
yielding to the reasonable demands of parents, he must, at the same time, be 
particularly careful not to sacrifice to iheir capricious exactions his educational 
principles, and the discipline of the school. 

The duties of the teacher toward those in authority are still clearer, and not 
less important. He is himself an authority in his parish; how then can it be 
fitting that he give an example of insubordination 1 Wherefore should he not 
respect the magistracy, religious authority, and the legal powers, whereby pub- 
lic security is maintained 1 

The Mayor is the head of the community ; the interest, therefore, as well as 
the duly of the schoolmaster, is to exemplify on every occasion the respect due 
to him. The vicar and pastor are also entitled to respect, for their mission is in 
accordance with all that is most elevated in human nature. Nothing, besides, 
is more c^esirable than a perfect understanding between the minister of religion 
and the teacher; both are in possession of moral authority; both require the 
confidence of families ; both can agree in exercising over the children commit- 
ted to their care, in several ways, a common influence," 



214 



PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 



With such enlarged views of the scope, and agencies, and ends of pri 
mary instruction, the bill was framed and introduced into the Chamber 
of Deputies and of Peers. It was referred to committees, who reported 
through M. Renouard in the lower, and M. Cousin in the upper house. 
These reports are full and elaborate discussions of great principles, and 
especially that of M. Cousin. 

The bill, after going through a protracted examination and discussion 
of its details, received the sanction of the Chambers and the King, and 
became a law on the 28th of June, 1833. Under the wise and energetic 
administration of the department of pubhc instruction, by such men as 
Guizot, Cousin, Villemain, and Salvandy, the system Vt'ent into immedi- 
ate and successful operation, giving a powerful impulse to the progress 
of popular intelligence throughout the whole domain of France. Expe- 
rience has brought to light some imperfections and deficiencies, some of 
which have been remedied or supplied, and others are still under discus- 
sion. We must wait till a generation has passed through the course of 
instruction now provided by law, and come into active life, before we can 
fully appreciate the wise forecast of the labors of Cousin and Guizot in 
this long neglected field of primary education. 

It should be added, that a private association, called " The Society for 
Elementary Instruction," was very instrumental in waking up the atten- 
tion of the people and of government to the condition and improvement of 
primary schools. This society was formed in 1805, by a number of distin- 
guished philanthropists, and has continued in active operation to the pres- 
ent time. It has been instrumental in establishing infant schools, schools 
for needle-work, adult schools and classes, reformatory schools, associations 
for teachers, village libraries in various parts of France, and has a com- 
plete series of popular schools under its immediate management, in Paris. 
The Minister of Public Instruction, in 1835, ascribed to it the honor of 
having given the first impulse to the present school law. It publishes 
a monthly journal of its proceedings, and was mainly instrumental in es- 
tablishing, in 1830, the " Journal de I'Instruction Elementaire," which is 
still continued under the title of "Manuel General de I'Instruction Pri- 
maire," and is the official organ of the Minister of Public Instruction. 
There is also published another educational journal, called "L'Echo des 
Ecoles Primaires," devoted to the dissemination of improved methods of 
instruction. It commenced in 1837, and was lor several years under the 
editorship of M. Cousin, assisted by many of the best teachers and educa- 
tors in France. We noticed articles by Beudant, Willm, Parandiex, 
Philippar, and several directors of Normal Schools, and Inspectors of the 
Primary Schools. Upward of one hundred volumes on the science and 
art of education have been published in Paris since 1835 ; several of these 
are by men of the best intellect, and large practical and benevolent 
news. 



OUTLINE 

OP THE 

SYSTEM OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 



France is divided by law for municipal and all administrative pur- 
poses, into 86 Departments, 363 Arrondissements, 2,842 Cantons, and 
39,381 Communes. 

In eacli department there is appointed by the legal voters a prefect, 
who is associated with a general council for the department, and a spe- 
cial council for each arrondissement, in the administration of the local 
affairs of the department; in each canton there is a judicial office, styled 
juge de paix ; in each commune, a mayor, with a municipal council, elect- 
ed by the people. 

Since 1808 there has existed in the government a central and special 
department for the administration of public instruction, for the application 
of all funds appropriated by the state for educational, scientific or litera- 
ry purposes. Over this department has presided from time to time, some 
of the most distinguished scholars and statesmen of France, and no 
branch of the public service has been regarded, for the last thirty years, 
with more favor by the Chambers, or the people. Since 1824, the chief 
of this department has had a seat in the cabinet council of the king, which 
consists of nine members. 

To the supervision of the department of public instruction, as now 
organized, are assigned all schools, primary, secondary and superior, 
which together constitute the University of France, and are directed 
and superintended in its name; all scientific and literary societies to the 
support of wliich the government contributes, such as the Institute, the 
Academy of Medicine, &c. ; all public libraries, which the state main- 
tains, or to which it contributes ; all institutions having charters prior to 
1808, and which were not by royal ordinance incorporated into the Uni- 
versity ; and all encouragements, by the way of subscription, or publica- 
tion, to science and letters. 

The Royal University of Prance embraces the whole system of nation- 
al education, and includes ail the institutions for imparting instruction 
which are spread over the whole kingdom, from the lowest schools, up to 
the highest colleges. The term may thus be considered synonymous with 
the French national system of education. 

The University is placed under the direction of a council of six mem- 
bers, called the '• royal council of public instruction." of which the minis- 
ter of public instruction is the otFicial president. Each councilor has the 
special charge of one or more divisions of public instruction. Subordi- 
nate to this council are the inspectors-general of the University, who are 
required to examine, once a year, the institutions of every description, 
each within a certain district assigned to him, and to transmit a report to 
the council. 

The University is composed of twenty-six Academies, each of which 
comprehends two, three, or more of the departments into which the king- 
dom is divided, and contains one or more royal colleges. The presiding 
officer of each academy is the rector, who is appointed by the minister of 
public instruction, and is assisted by two inspectors and a council. The 
governing body of each academy has the superintendence of all the com- 
munal colleges, institutions, pefts/"on5, (boarding schools,) Normal Schools, 



2lQ PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 

or schools for the education of teachers, and primary schools, within the 
district which the seminary comprehends. 

Besides the superintending body, the academy includes the teaching 
corps, or faculties ; namely, the faculties of letters, science, medicine, 
law, and theology, all of which, however, do not actually exist in every 
academy ; in some indeed, there is no organization of faculties. The 
faculties consist of a variable number of profes.sors, one of whom is dean, 
and a committee of whom examine candidates for degrees. There are, 
however, some institutions which are not subject to the jurisdiction of 
the University; as the College of France, the Museum of Natural Histo- 
ry, the Ecole des Charles, School of Oriental Languages, the French 
Institute, and societies of all kinds for the advancement of knowledge. 

The royal colleges are supported chiefly by the government, and the 
salaries ot"the professors, which are generally from $400 to $800, are paid 
from ihe budget of the minister of public instruction. The students are 
divided into two classes, the internes and e.vternes, or boarders and day- 
scholars. The communal colleges are supported principally by the com- 
munes in which they are situate ; some of them have endowments, but 
the majority depend chiefly for their support on the fees paid by the stu- 
dents. The professors or teachers receive but small salaries, varying 
from $200 to $600. 

A distinguishing feature of the system of public instruction in France, 
is the appointment of all professors in all the colleges and lyceums, and 
in the faculties of law, medicine, theology, and letters, and all institu- 
tions of education above the primary school, by public competition (les 
concours.) A concours may last a few days only, or it may last for 
months. The months of September and August are the months of vaca- 
tion in the different colleges, and are usually devoted to the public com- 
petition of candidates for any professorship or chair declared to be vacant 
by the minister of public instruction. The judges are selected from 
among the most distinguished scholars in France. The mode of con- 
ducting the trial varies with the department to be filled. But it embra- 
ces every mode by which the accuracy and extent of the attainments ol 
each candidate in the study can be tested, as well as his ability to com- 
municate his knowledge to classes of pupils. Each candidate is subject 
to the criticism of his competitor. Every professor in all the colleges 
and great schools of France has passed through this ordeal. 

Nearly all the higher schools of learning and science are concentrated 
in Paris. Almost all the young men who want to complete their studies, 
whether in letters, law, medicine, or the arts, — in short, in all those pre- 
paratory to any learned or liberal career, are forced to live in the capital. 
This is attended with a disastrous result, in the neglect or discontinuance 
of all domestic training and discipline, which can not be compensated by 
any superiority of mental culture, secured by the concentration of able 
men, and all the means and appliances of superior education at the capital. 

There are six faculties of Catholic theology, at Aix, Bordeaux, Lyons, 
Paris, Rouen, and Toulouse; and two of Protestant theology, one of the 
Lutheran or Augsburg confession, at Strasburg, and another of the Cal- 
vanist or Helvetic confession, at Montauban, under the academy of Tou- 
louse. 

The faculties of laAvare nine, at Aix, Caen, Dijon, Grenoble, Paris, Poi- 
tiers, Rennes, Strasburg, and Toulouse. There are three faculties of 
medicine, at Grenoble, Paris, and Montpellier ; with seventeen secondary 
schools of medicine. 

The faculties of science are nine in number, at Paris, Bordeaux, Stras- 
burg, Caen, Toulouse, Montpellier, Dijon, Lyons, and Grenoble ; those ot 
letters or literature, seven, at Paris, Strasburg, Bordeaux, Toulouse Ca- 
en, Dijon, and Besangon. 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 21 7 

In order to become a student in law or theology, a person must have 
taken the degree of bachelor of letters ; and a course of three years in 
either faculty, is requisite to obtain the degree of bachelor ; for the de- 
gree of doctor, four years; and to obtain the degree of doctor in divinity, 
the candidate must defend a final and general thesis. Candidates for 
the degree of doctor in medicine, must have taken the degree of bache- 
lor of letters, and also of sciences, and must complete a course of four 
years. The faculties of law and medicine at Paris, are greatly distin- 
guished. The former has sixteen professors, and had, in 1836, upward 
of 3000 students : the latter, twenty-seven professors, and in 1836, about 
4000 students. 

The law ordains at least one elementary school in every commune, and 
those communes in which the population exceeds 6000, are required to 
support one superior primary school, and are aided in opening infant 
schools, evening schools, classes for adults, and high schools. 

Where the number of families of different sects is sufficient, the minis- 
ister of public instruction is authorized to grant permission, if advisable 
so to do, to the commune to establish separate schools for the children of 
each denomination. 

By a law passed in March, 1841, the duty of school attendance is made 
obligatory. No young person below the age of twelve years can be em- 
ployed in any workshop or manufactory, unless his parents or guardians 
testify that lie actually attends some public or private school within the 
locality, and all such as were so employed at the date of this law, were 
required to attend school till the age of twelve. All young persons above 
the age of twelve can be excused from attending a school, only in case a 
certificate can be given by the Mayor of their place of residence, that 
they have received the primary or elementary instruction. To meet the 
wants of those adults, who have grown up without the advantages of 
school attendance, evening schools, and classes for adults, are establish- 
ed and provided for, by law. 

The central government, the departmental authorities, the municipal 
authorities, the religious authorities, the heads of families, have each their 
sphere of action, and their influence in the administration of primary 
schools. 

The local management of a primary school is intrusted to a committee 
of the commune, consisting of the mayor, the president of the council, 
the cicre, or pastor, and one person appointed by the committee of the 
arrondissement in which the commune is situated. 

The general supervision of the schools of each arrondissement is as- 
signed to a committee of the arrondissement, which consists of the mayor 
of the chief town, of the juge de paix, a pastor of each of the recognised 
religious sects, a professor of a college, or school of secondary instruction, 
a primary schoolmaster, three members of the council of the arrondisse- 
ment, and the members of the council-general of the department who 
reside in the arrondissement. 

These committees meet once a month. The communal committees 
inspect and report the condition of the schools in the commune to the 
committee of the arrondissement. Some member of the committee of the 
arrondissement is present at each local inspection, and a report of the 
whole committee on the state of education in the arrondissement is made 
annually to the minister of public instruction. 

In each department there is a commission of primary education, com- 
posed of at least seven members, among which there must be a minister 
of each of the religious denominations recognized by law, and at least 
three persons who are at the time, or have been, engaged in teaching 
public schools of secondary instruction. This committee is charged with 
the examination of all candidates for the certificate of qualification to 



218 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 



teach primary schools, or to enter the Normal School of the department. 
These examinations must be public, at a time fixed, and notified by the 
minister, and in the chief town of the department. The examination is 
varied according to the grade of school for which the candidate ap- 
plies. With a certificate of capacity from this commission, the candi- 
date can teach in any commune in the department, without any local 
examination. 

Besides these local committees the minister of public instruction ap- 
points an inspector for every department, with assistant inspectors, when 
required by the exigences of the public service. The duty of the inspec- 
tor is to visit every school in the department, at least once a year, and to 
inquire into the state of the school-house, the classification, moral charac- 
ter, and methods of discipUne and instruction of each school. He must 
leave a written memorandum of all deficiencies noted in his visit, for the 
use of the local committee, and report annually to the prefect of the 
department, and through him to the minister. This stimulates and 
encourages teachers, as well as communes, and informs the minister of the 
true wants of diflerent localities, as well as the deficiencies of the law. 
The inspectors are required to pay particular attention to the Normal 
Schools in their several departments. The inspector has a salary of two 
thousand francs, and an allowance of three francs a day for traveling 
expenses, and one franc for every school visited. In 1843 there were 
eighty-seven inspectors, and one hundred and fourteen sub-inspectors; 
and the number of communes visited by them in that year, was 30,081, 
making 50,986 visits to schools. 

The resources of the state, the departments, the communes, and the 
contributions paid by parents, combine to insure the creation and main- 
tenance of the school. Every commune must provide a school-house 
and residence for the school-master, and to the first expense of this outfit, 
the state contributes one third. Every teacher must have a lodging, or 
its equivalent in money, and a fixed salary of 200 Irancs, or 400 francs, 
(from $40 to 180,) according to the grade of school, in addition to the 
monthly fees paid by parents, and collected by the commune. If the 
commune refuses, or neglects to provide by tax on the property of the 
commune, the government imposes and collects the same. If the com- 
mune, on account of poverty or disaster to crops or depression in business, 
can not raise its necessary sum, the department to which it belongs must 
provide it, and if the revenues of the department are not sufiicient to sup- 
ply the deficiencies of all the communes, the deficit must be supplied by 
the state. In every department, the prefect and general-council, annually 
draw up in concert a special estimate in which the expense of primary 
instruction is fixed, and necessary revenue provided. In each commune, 
the Mayor and municipal council make a special estimate of the same 
kind ; and at the same time fix the monthly tuition-fee to be paid by each 
parent. 

Every department must by itself, or in concert with adjoining depart- 
ments, support a Normal School, to supply the annual demand tor teach- 
ers of primary schools. The sum to be expended on a Normal School, 
for the salaries of teachers, apparatus, and bursaries, or scholarships in aid 
of poor pupils, is not left with the department to fix, but is regulated by 
the council of public instruction. The salary of the Director is borne by 
the state and department combined; that of the assistant teachers by the 
department. The expense of the normal pupils for board is borne by 
themselves, unless they enjoy an exhibition or scholarship, founded by the 
state, department, university, commune, or by individual benevolence. 
The scholarships are sometimes divided so as to meet, in part, the expense 
of two or three pupils. In 18 16, there were ninety-two Normal Schools, 
seventy-six of which were for the educationof schoolmasters, and sixteen 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 219 

for the education of schoolmistresses. To fifty-two of these schools 
enough land is attached to teach agriculture and horticulture. 

The course of instruction in these elementary schools, embraces Moral 
and Religious Instruction, Reading, Writing, the elements of Arithmetic, 
elements of the French Language, legal system of Weights and Meas- 
ures, Geography, (particularly of France,) History, (particularly of 
France,) Linear Drawing, and Singing. In the superior primary schools, 
or High School, the above course is extended so as to embrace Modern 
Languages, Book-keeping, Perspective Drawing, Chemistry, and the 
Mathematics, in their application to the arts. There is a special course 
of instruction open in evening schools, to those children and youth who 
can not attend the day school ; and in evening classes for adults, whose 
early education was neglected, or who may wish to pursue particular 
studies connected with their pursuits as artizans, manufacturers, and 
master-workmen. 

Provision is made to encourage teachers to form associations, and to 
hold frequent conferences for improvement in their professional knowl- 
edge and skill, and to found libraries of books on education. 

In each department a fund is accumulating for the relief of aged teach- 
ers, and of the widows and children of teachers, who die in the exercise 
of their important functions. Each master must subscribe one twenti- 
eth part of the salary he receives from the commune ; and the sura-total 
which he subscribes, together with the interest upon it, is returned to 
him when he retires, or to his widow and children, when he dies. 

The government awards medals of silver and bronze to those masters 
who distinguish themselves in the management of their schools. This 
encourages and stimulates them to continued efforts, and connects them 
in an honorable way, with the government and the nation. 

The whole charge to the State of the department of public instruction, 
according to the Budget of 1838, was 19,005,673 francs, or nearly $4,000^ 
000, which was distributed as follows : 

Francs. 

Central Administration, 686,623 

General Services, 238,000 

Department and Academic Administration, 919,900 

Superior Instruction, faculties, 1,9~2 050 

Secondary Instruction, 1,655.600 

Elementary Instruction, general fund, 1,600.000 

do. do. additional, 3.500,000 

Primary Normal School, ' 200,000 

Literary and Scientific establishments, 7,676.500 

Subscriptions to Literary Works, &c 557,000 

Total, 19.005,673 

or $3,800,354. 

This does not include the sum to be raised in the departments and com- 
munes, or contributed by parents. 

From the reports of the Minister of Public Instruction, for 1843, it 
appears that in the ten years, from 1833 to 1843. France expended the 
sum of £2,565,883 (about $1 1,000,000.) on the erection of school-houses, 
and residences for teachers. In 1843, the expenditure for the current 
expenses of her educational establishments was a little short of $4,000,000, 
independent of the sum paid by the communes, individuals, and parents in 
school fees, which amount to near $5,000,000. Even this sum was found 
insufficient, and since that date the appropriation has been increased. In 
1833 there was one person in every eighteen of the population, receiving 
education, while in 1843, there was one in every ten. But the primary 
schools are far from reachincp the excellence which characterizes the ele- 



220 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 



mentary schools of Germany. Much is yet to be done to carry out the 
liberal provision of the law. 

In a late Report, (1849,) on the state of common school instruction in 
Germany, to the President of the Society for Elementary Instruction in 
France, by A. Hennequin, late inspecteur d'academie, the following 
five Questions are all answered in the affirmative, by the author: 

Is the inspection of schools better practised in Germany than in France ? 

Are tiie common schools in Germany superior to ours ? 

Are the people in Germany better instructed than in France ? 

Are the German teachers superior to the French teachers '[ 

Are the methods of instruction in Germany better than ours ? 

A volume of 756 pages was published at Breslau, in 1848, by L. Hahn, 
on the schools and school-system of France. The author has resided 
many years in Paris, as a teacher, and has had access to the latest offi- 
cial information. Although much has been done since 1833, to improre 
the primary schools, the author thinks that their condition in respect to 
school-houses, attendance of children, universality and quality of instruc- 
tion given, and the qualifications, social and pecuniary position of the 
teachers, is far behind that of the same grade of schools in Germany. 
The Normal Schools are accomplishing much good, but they have not 
been able yet to supply a majority of the communes with well-trained 
teachers. The Normal Schools at Versailles, and Strasbourg, are pro- 
nounced the best in France, and the latter especially, is regarded as mak- 
ing the nearest approach to the best teachers' seminaries in Germany. 

The following tables will exhibit the working of this great system of 
public instruction in several important particulars. 

TABLE I. 

EXHIBITING THE NUMBER OP SCHOOLS EMBRACED IN THE UNIVERSITY OP FRANCE IN 1837. 



Aix, . . . . 
Amiens, . . 
Angers, . . 
BesancoD, . 
Bordeaux, . 
Bourges, . . 
Caen, . . . . 
Cahors, . . 
Clermont, . 
Dijon, . . . 
Donai, . . • 
Grenoble, . 
Limoges, . . 
Lyons, . . . 
Metz, . . . . 
Montpelier, 
Nancy, . . . 
Nimes, . . . 
Orleans, . . 

Paris 

Pan, . . . . 
Poictiers, . . 
Rennes, . . 
Rouen, . . . 
Strasburg, . 
Toulouse, . 



Total 861 41 



160 
121 
118 
110 
13| 170 
12 129 



15 

22 
42 
13 
12 
14 
11 
20 
15 
23 
14 
39 
24 1 241 
180 1629 



212 

90 

287 

88 

131 

133 

88 

276 

190 

199 

110 

365 



57 
130 
346 
164 
121 
112 



626 5779 8870 



230 
180 
110 
160 
120 
120 
290 
160 
292 
150 
110 
141 
220 
264 
240 
256 
260 
226 
286 
3324 
90 
201 
407 
491 
203 
239 



To 

10 

18 

15 

/ 

9 

16 

9 

12 

20 

21 

7 

9 

6 

5 

17 

15 

10 

5 

19 

10 

14 

18 

9 

12 

9 



41 
50 
17 
21 
54 
21 
25 
47 
30 
36 
43 
25 
18 
52 
26 
36 
25 
26 
31 
251 
32 
34 
35 
68 
15 
55 



318 1461114 54 42,318 



1,659 
2,697 
1,212 
1,671 
1,209 

532 
2,340 
1.451 
1,121 
1,855 
2,643 
1,120 

264 
1,470 
1,541 
1,766 
2.444 
1,594 

730 
4.203 
i;734 
1,536 

941 
1,712 
1,543 
1,327 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 221 

TABLE II. 

SHOWING THE CONDITION OP PRIMARY EDUCATION IN THE DIFFERENT COMMUNES, IN 1843. 

Number of arrondissements 363 

Number of communes 37,038 

Population 34,230,178 

Number of communes provided with a primary school .... 34,578 

Population of the communes provided with primary schools . . 33,080,002 
Number of communes not yet provided with a primary school . . 2,460 

Population of the communes not yetprovided with primary schools 1,150,176 
Nimiber of communes who require several primary schools, and 

who possess only one 23 

Number of communes who are required by law to support one supe- 
rior primary school . 290 

Number of communes who ought to support superior primary 

schools, and who do support them 222 

Population of these communes 4,177,047 

Number of communes who ought to support several superior prima- 
ry schools, and who support only one 23 

NumlDer of communes who are not required by law to support a 

superior primary school, and who do support one ....... 103 

Total number of primary schools, elementary and superior, for boys 

and girls, established in France in 1843 59,838 

Total number of primary schools in the 86 departments of France, 

visited in 1843 by the 87 inspectors and 113 sub-inspectors '. 50,936 

In addition to these schools for the youth there ought to be added 6,434 class- 
es for the laborers, which are conducted by the primary school teachers in the 
evenings, after the day's work, or on the Sunday, and in which 95,064 adult 
laborers received instruction in 1843 ; and also a great number of infant schools 
which have been recently opened in the departments, and which are receiving 
great encouragement and attention from the Government. 

TABLE III. 

SHOWING THE NUMBER OP PRIMARY SCHOOLS BELONGING TO THE DIFFERENT SECTa. 



Primary scnools spe 
cially set apart for 
the Roman Catholics 



Primary schools spe- 
cially set apart for 
the Protestants . . 



Primary schools spe- 
cially set apart for the 
Jews 



Mixed schools open 
for all three sects 



f Public schools 



Private schools 



( Public schools 



l_ Private schools 



r Public schools 



Private schools 



r Public schools 
[^Private schools 



Boys 
Girls 

Boys 
Giris 



5 Boys 
\ Giris 

S Boys 
\ Giris 



{ Boys 
\ Giris 

(Boys 
\ Giris 



(Boys 
} Giris 

(Boys 
} Giris 



33 207 
7,660 

7,098 

8,847 



702 
59 

163 
156 



948 
107 

326 
450 



j 40,867 
I 15,945 



!-■ 



761 
39 

37 

78 

055 
776 



Total number of Primary Schools in France, in 1843, 



> 56,812 



1,080 



115 



1,831 



59,838 



222 PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 

The number of the Roman Catholic population of France being 33,050,178, 
it follows, (see Table I.,) that in 1843, there was one primary school for every 
581 Roman Catholics. 

'I'he number of the Protestant population of France being 1,000,000, it fol- 
lows, that in 1843, there was one primary shool for every 1,018 Protestants. 
The reason why the proportion of schools for the Protestants to their numbers 
is so small is, that very many of this sect attend the mixed schools. 

The number of Jews being 80,000, it follows, that there was one school for 
every G95 Jews. 

TABLE IV. 

SHOWING THE NUMBER Or CHILDREN IN ATTENDANCE AT THE FRIMARY ECBOOLS Of 
FRANCE, IN 1843. 

Number of Scholars at the Public Elementary Primary 
Schools for Boys, 

Directed by Lay Schoolmasters, 1,699,586 

" " Schoolmasters, members of Religious > 1,857,017 

Societies, 157,431 

Number of Scholars at the Public Superior Primary 
Schools for Boys, 

Directed by Lay Schoolmasters, 15,092 

" " Schoolmasters, members of Religious So- > 15,448 

cieties, 356^ 



Number of Scholars at the public Schools for Girls, 

Directed by Lay Schoolmistresses, 230,213 

" " Schoolmistresses, members of Religious } 534,960 

Societies, 304,747.^ 



:i 



Number of Scholars at the Private Elementary Primary 
Schools for Boys, 

Directed by Lay Schoolmasters, 230,383 ) 

" " Schoolmasters, members of Religious So- ^ 272,935 

cieties, 42,552) 

Number of Scholars at the Private Superior Primary 
Schools for Boys, 
Directed by Lay Schoolmasters, ....... 3,469 ) 

" '• Schoolmasters, members of Religious So- > 4,272 

cieties, 803) 

Number of Scholars at the Private Primary Schools for 
Girls, 

Directed by Lay Schoolmistresses, 278,637 1 

" " Schoolmistresses, members of Religious > 479,665 

Societies, 201,028) 

Total number of Scholars at all the Primary Schools, 

Directed by Lay Schoolmasters or Schoolmistresses, 2,457,380) 

" " Schoolmasters or Schoolmistresses, mem- - > 3,164,297 

bers of Religious Societies, .... 706,917 ) 

Total number of children attending the Primary Schools in 1843, 3,164,297 

Total number of children admitted gratuitously into the Com- 
munal Schools in 1843 763,820 

Total number of children who paid something monthly for their 

education in 1843, 2,400,447 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 223 

TABLE V. 

SHOWINO THE NUMBER AND CONDITION OF THE CLASSES FOR ADULTS, FOR YOCNO GIRLS, 
AND FOR VOUNO APPRENTICES IN FRANCE, IN 1843. 

Number of classes for Adul is, . . 6,434 

" " Young Girls, 160 

" " " Apprentices 36 

Number of Infant Schools, 

Public, 685) ..f,a 

Private, 804 J ''^"^ 

Number of Scholars, 

In the classes for Adults 95,064"^ 

" " Young Girls, 5,908! mfidio 

" Schools for Apprentices, 1,268 f '■^y'^'' 

" Infant Schools, 96,192j 

Number of communes in which there are Adult Classes, . 6,043 
Number of Adult Classes, 

for Men, 6,266 

" Women, 168 

Number of persons who frequent ihem, 

for Men, : 9,451 

" Women, :..:..:....,...... 4,6I3 

Number of Classes directed by 

Schoolmasters belonging to a Religious Society, 125 

Schoolmistresses, " " " " 51 

Number of Adiilt Classes in which are taught 

Moral and Religious Instruction, 3,331 

Reading, 5,035 

Writing, 4,483 

Arithmetic, 4,456 

System of Weights and Measures, 3,857 

Linear Drawing, 271 

Vocal Music, ..,.., 107 

Resources of these Classes, 

Sums furnished by the Communes, 136,836 ) Francs. 

« " Departments, 38,350 V 201,886 

" " " State 26,700) 

TABLE VI. 

SHOWING THE NUMBER AND COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN THE NORMAL 8CH00LS OF 
FRANCE, IN 1843. 

Number of Normal Schools thoroughly organized, ........ 78 

Number to which a garden is joined for the purpose of teaching the 

pupils the culture of trees, . 52 

Number of Professors in these schools, . . 495 

" " including the Directors, 573 

Number of hours devoted weekly to the different branches 

of education : let Year. 2d Year. 3d Year. 

Moral and Religious Instruction 2| 2J 2f 

Reading, 3f 3 2 

Writing, 4^ 4i 4 

Study of the French Language, 6 5J 4i 

History and Geography, ......... 3i 4^ 3i 

Arithmetic • 5 3j 3 

Use of the Globes, 2 2i 2 

Elements of Practical Geometry, 4 3i 3j 

Elements of Physics and Natural History, . . , 2\ 2f 3i 

" Mechanics, 2 2i 3 

" Surveying, ......... 2 2i 3 

Linear Drawing, 3j 4 4i 

Methods of teaching, If If 2j 

Vocal Music, 3^ Sj 3i 

Civil Law 2 U U 

Culture of Trees : . IS 1| U 



224 PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. -^ 

TABLE VII. 

SHOWING THE STATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN 1843. 

Number of Colleges. Royal, ::::::::::: 46 > _„ 

" " Communal, ::::::::. 312 J ^^® 

Nuraberof Scholars in Colleges ::::,... 44,091 

Number oi' Institutions of Secondary Education, ::::,... 102 

" Boarding Schools " " ::::.... 914 

" Private Establishments " " ........ 1,016 

" Public and Private " " " ........ 2|390 

Number of Scholars in the Institutions which follow the 

course of a College, 6,066 ) 

Number of Scholars in the Institutions which do not fol- > 31,3lC 

low the course of a College, 25,250 ) 

Number of Secondary Pupils, 69,341 

Population of the Departments, 1842, 34,194,875 

Proportion in each Department between the population and the 
total number of establishments of Secondary Educa- 
tion, 1 estab. for 24,887 

Number of Scholars in establishments of Secondary Educa- 
tion, . . , . 1 " " 493 

Number of Young Men between eight and eighteen in each De- 
partment, 3,182,397 

Proportion between the total number of Young Men between 
eight and eighteen, and the total number of pupils in Secon- 
dary Establishments in each Department, . 1 school for 45 young men. 



HISTORY 



NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 



The first movement in France toward the professional training of teach- 
ers was made in 1794, by an ordinance of the National Convention, estab- 
lishing in Paris an institution to furnish professors lor colleges and the 
higher seminaries. In this seminary several of the ablest teachers and 
men of letters and science gave lectures in the following year, after which 
the course of instruction was suppressed, and not revived till 1S08. In 
that year Napoleon re-established the school* iti the ordinance creating 
the '-Imperial University of France." The ordinance of March 11, 1808, 
recognizes the necessity of some professional training for teachers of ele- 
mentary schools, when it enjoins '• that measures shall be taken by the 
University that the art of teaching children to read, write and cipher, is 
practiced henceforth only by masters capable of communicating easily and 
accurately the elements of all knowledge necessary to every human 
being." 

In 1810 the first seminary designed for teachers of elementary schools. 
was established at Strasbourg, through the liberality of Count de Lezai 
Marnesia, and the co-operation of the Rector of the Academy, and the 
prefect of the department of the Lower Rhine. It opened in 1811 as a 
" Normal class of primary school teachers." No pupil was admitted who 
A/as under sixteen yearsof age. or over thirty, or who was not acquainted 
with the studies pursued in elementary schools. The course embraced 
four years, and included as wide and thorough range of studies as is now 
required in the best Normal Schools of France. The number of pupils 
was limited to sixty, and those who enjoyed the benefit of a bourse, or 
scholarship, came under obligation to teach at least ten years in the 
schools of the department. Those scholarships were founded partly by 
individual liberality, and partly by the department, and by the communes, 
which sent candidates to the school. Under the organization established 
in 1810, with such modifications as experience suggested, this school has 
continued to exert a powerful influence on the cause of popular educa- 
tion through that section of France, and it now ranks not only as the old- 
est, but one of the best in Europe. The department of Upper Rhine, 
witnessing the results of this experiment in the neighboring communes, 
appropriated six thousand francs to found scholarships, for the benefit ot 
a certain number of candidates in the seminary at Strasbourg. Accord- 
ing to a Report of M. Guizot to the King, in 1833, it appears that the 
state of primary education in the two departments constituting the Acad- 

* See description of tlie Paris Normal School, page 120. 

16 



22(3 HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 

eray of Strasbourg, was far in advance of any other section of France. 
Good schools were more numerous; fewer communes were destitute of 
schools; and the slow and defective method of individual instruction had 
given place to more hvely and simultaneous methods of class instruction. 
" In all respects the superiority of the popular schools is striking, and the 
conviction of the people is as general that this superiority is mainly due 
to the existence of this Normal School."* 

The establishment of two Normal Schools for the departments of Mo- 
selle and Meuse, in 1820, was followed by the same results, — the estab- 
lishment of schools in communes before destitute, and the improvement 
of schools already in operation, by the introduction of better methods. In 
1828 a new impulse was given to educational improvement by public- 
spirited individuals and teachers' associations in Paris, and other parts of 
France, which led to the establishment of a fourth Normal School in the 
department of Vosges, and a fifth in that of Meuth. About the same 
time a Normal course of instruction was opened in the college of Charle- 
ville, for the department of Ardennes, and the foundations of superior 
Normal Schools were laid ai Dijon, Orleans, and Bourges, as well as a 
Training School for the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine at Rouen. At 
the close of 1829, there were thirteen Normal Schools in operation. The 
movement already commenced, received a new impulse in the right direc- 
tion by the Revolution of 1830, which in this respect was as beneficent as 
die Revolution of 1791 vv^as disastrous. In the three years immediately 
following the change of dynasty in 1830, thirty-four new Normal Schools 
were established in different sections of France, and wherever they were 
established they contributed to the opening of primary schools in com- 
munes before destitute, and of diffnsing a knowledge of better methods 
among teachers who did not resort to these seminaries. But the most 
auspicious event was the publication of M. Cousin's " Report on the con- 
dition of Public Instruction in several of the States of Germany, and espe- 
cially in P'l^tissia,''^ in 1832. A considerable portion of this report was 
devoted to an account of the best Normal School of Prussia, and to the 
most emphatic recommendation of the same policy in France. The fol- 
iowing valuable suggestions were made on this subject, most of which 
were subsequently embodied in the Law of Primary Instruction, and the 
Regulations of the Minister relating to Normal Schools. 

" I have already remarked, that as every commune must have its pri- 
mary school, so every department must have its primary Normal School. 
If the same law which shall render the former imperative on the com- 
munes, should render the latter equally imperative on the departments, 
we should have made a great advance. If the law does not go so far as 
that, you must at all events come at the same results by administrative 
measures; you must require every council-general of a department, 
through the medium of the prefect, to vote funds for the establishment of 
a primary Normal School, under condition of binding yourself to contrib- 
wte a greater or less portion of the total expenditure, and to take upon 

See Course of Instruction in the Normal School at Strasbourg, page 130. 



IIISTOaY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 227 

yourself, 1. the salary of the director, whom you would nominate; 2. the 
books, maps, and instruments necessary for the use of the students. It 
must be laid down as a principle, tiiat every department must have its 
Normal School ; but that school should be proportioned to the extent and 
the wealth of the department, and it may, with equal propriety, be small 
in one and large in another. I take the liberty of referring to a very 
simple and very economical plan on which a primary Normal School may 
at first be organized. 

Choose the best-conducted primary school in the department, that 
which is in the hands of the master of the greatest ability and trust-wor- 
thiness. Annex to this school a class called Normal, in which this same 
master shall teach his art to a certain number of young men of the de- 
partment, who are willing to come to it to form themselves for school- 
masters. None should be admitted till after an examination, made by a 
commission appointed by you. This commission must send you the re- 
sults of its labors ; and it would be well that the admission of the students 
to the primary Normal School should be signed by you, as is the case in 
the admission of*students to the great Normal School for the instruction 
of the second degree. This small Normal School ought never to be placed 
in <a very large town, the influence of which would be adverse to that 
spirit of poverty, humility and peace, so necessary to the students. There 
is no objection to their being day-pupils, provided they are responsible for 
their conduct outoftlie house. Nor is it necessary that all should receive 
exhibitions, or purses, especially whole purses. In all small towns there 
are families in which a young man may be boarded and lodged for about 
:iOO francs a year, ($60;) so that 3000 francs, (^600,) prudently divided 
into whole, half, and quarter purses, would easily defray the cost often or 
fifteen students. Give the master the title of Director of the Normal 
School, which would be a real gain to him, inasmuch as it would increase 
his consideration ; and for the additional labor you impose upon him, give 
him a salary of 700 or 800 li-ancs. Add a yearly allowance of 400 or -500 
francs for books, maps, and other things required in teaching ; and thus, 
for 5000 francs, ($1000,) at the utmost, you have a small Normal School, 
which will be extremely useful to the department. The pupils should be 
])ermitted to leave it if they choose, in a year, provided they be able to go 
through the examination at quitting, on which depends their obtaining 
the brevet of primary teacher. Yes, it rests with you, by means of a 
circular to this effect, addressed to all the prefects of the kingdom, to have 
in a few months, eighty-four small primary Normal Schools in France. 
The plan which I propose does not commit you to any future measures, 
yet it at once covers France with Normal Schools which will supply our 
first wants. It is for time, zeal, intelligence, and perseverance to do the 
rest. There must always necessarily be a great difference among the 
Normal Schools of our eighty-four departments; but the best way is, to 
go on gradually improving, in proportion as experience shows you what 
is required. Even with this wise tardiness, three or four years will suffice 
to improve all these small Normal Schools, and to raise a great number 
lo the rank of complete great Normal Schools. 

The difference between a great and a small Normal School consists in 
this : a small Normal School is only an appendage to a primary school, 
whilst a great Normal School is an establishment subsisting by and for 
itself, to which a primary school (and if possible that should comprise 
both an elementary and a middle school) is annexed. 

This difference gives the measure of all other differences. In the 
small Normal School there are only day-pupils, or at most a few board- 
ers. In the great, the majority may be boarders. In the one, the course 
may be terminated in a year ; in the other, it should extend through two 
years, as at Bruhl ; and even, in time, according to the resources of the 



228 HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 

departments and the progress of public education, it might embrace three 
years, as in most of the great Normal Schools of Prussia, — Potsdam, for 
example. The departments must be the judges of their resources and ot 
their wants. A department which wants twenty schoolmasters a year, 
and which has a certain number of middle or burgher schools, as well as 
many elementary schools, can very well receive twenty pupils a year ; 
which, supposing the course to occupy two or three years, amounts to forty 
or sixty pupils at a time in the school. Then there must be accommoda- 
tion ibr boarding them, a large building, a greater number of masters, 
more exhibitions, (bourses,) more expense of every sort. 

In the hope that the few great primary Normal Schools we already 
possess will soon be succeeded by others, I beg your attention to the fol- 
lowing maxims, deduced from general experience, and from all the data 
I have accumulated here. 

I. To begin by giving instructions rather than rules ; to confine your- 
self in these instructions to the establishing of a few essential points, and 
to leave the rest to the departmental committee. To discuss and decide 
this small number of points in the royal council ; not 1)o multiply them, 
but inflexibly to enforce their execution. The fewer they are, the more 
easy will this execution be, and the more susceptible will they be of ap- 
plication to all the Normal Schools of France ; so that there would be a 
common groundwork for all ; a unity, which, passing from the Normal 
Schools into the whole body of popular education, would have a beneficial 
influence in strengthening the national unity. At the same time, this 
unity would not be prejudicial to local diversities ; for the departmental 
committee would be desired to apply your general instructions according 
to the peculiar manners or usages ol' the department. From the combina- 
tion of the uniformity of these instructions, with the diversity of arrange- 
ments which the prudence and intelligence of the committee, and the 
experience of each year, will recommend, a set of regulations for each 
Normal School will gradually arise, more or less definitive, and therelbre 
fit to be made public. The plan of study of the great Normal School at 
Paris, for the supply of the royal and communal colleges, is the fruit of 
fifteen years' experience. This school, which was founded in 1810, had 
no written laws till 1815. We made important modifications in those 
laws at the Revolution of 1830, and it was not till then that we ventured 
to print them, as the result, nearly definitive, or at least likely to endure 
for some time, of all the experiments successively tried. Let us imitate 
this caution, and begin with a simple set of instructions from the minister. 
Rules for the studies and the discipline will gradually arise. Every year 
will modify them. The important thing is, to exact an accurate account 
of the proceedings and results of the year, drawn up by the director, and 
transmitted to you, together with all the necessary documents, by the de- 
partmental committee and the prefect, who will subjoin their own opinion. 
Then, and then only, you will interpose your authority, with that of tlie 
royal council, which will revise this report every year at the vacation, and 
pronounce on the improvements to be introduced. 

II. To attach the greatest possible importance to the choice of a director. 
It is a principle generally established in Prussia, that the goodness of a 
Normal School is in exact proportion to the goodness of the director ; just 
as the primary school is what its master is. What constitutes a Normal 
School is noi a fine building; on the contrary, it is not amiss that it should 
not be over commodious or splendid. It is not even the excellence of the 
regulations, which, without a faithful and intelligent execution of them, 
are only a useless hit of paper. A Normal School is what its director is. 
He is the life and soul of it. If he is a man of ability, he will turn the 
poorest and humblest elements to account ; if he is incapable, the best 
and most prolific will remain sterile in his hands. Let us by no mcEuas 



HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 229 

make our directors mere house-stewards. A director ought to be at the 
head of the most important branches of instruction, and to set an example 
to all the other masters. He must iiave long fulfilled the dutiesof a mas- 
ter ; first, in different classes of a Normal course of education, so that he 
may have a general knowledge of the whole system ; secondly, in several 
Normal Schools, so that he may have experience of difficulties of various 
kinds; lastly, he must not be placed at the head of a Normal School oi 
the highest class, till he has been director of several of an inferior class, 
so as to graduate promotion according to merit, and thus keep up an hon- 
orable emulation. 

III. An excellent practice in Germany is, to place the candidates, im- 
mediately on their leaving the Normal School, as assistant masters in 
schools which admit of two. The young men thus go through at least a 
year of apprenticeship. — a very useful novitiate : they gain age and ex- 
perience, and their final appointment depends on their conduct as assist- 
ant masters. I regard every gradation a? extremely useful, and I think 
a little graduated scale of powers and duties might be advantageously 
introduced into primary instruction. 

1st. Pupil of a Normal School admitted after competition, holding a 
more or less high rank in the examination list at the end of each year, 
and quitting the school with such or such a number. 2d. Same pupil 
promoted to the situation of assistant master. 3d. Schoolmaster succes- 
sively in different schools rising in salary and in importance. 4th. After 
distinguished services, master in a primary Norma! School. 5th. Lastly, 
director of a school of that class, with the prospect of gradually rising to 
be director of a numerous and wealthy Normal School, which would be a 
post equal to that of professor of a royal college. The human soul lives 
in the future, it is ambitious, because it is infinite. Let us then open to 
it a progressive career, even in the humblest occupations. 

IV. We can not be too deeply impressed with this truth — that paid 
instruction is better than gratuitous instruction. The entire sum paid for 
board at a Normal School must be extremely moderate, for the young 
men of the poorest classes to be able to pay it. We must give only quar- 
ter or half exhibitions, (^bourses,) reserving two or three whole ones for 
the two or three young men, out of the fifteen admitted annually, who 
stand first on the list ; and even this should not be continued to them the 
second year, unless their conduct had been irreproachable and their appli- 
cation unremitting. 

On the same principle as that laid down above, the elementary school 
annexed to the Normal School ought not to be entirely gratuitous ; it 
ought to have no other masters than the forwardest pupils of the Normal 
School, acting under the direction of their masters. The profits of the 
elementary school for practice would go to diminish the total cost of the 
Normal School. As for the middle school for practice, it would be con- 
trary to the principle of all middle schools to have it gratuitous. 

V. Divide the studies of all Normal Schools into two parts: during 
the first, the pupils should be considered simply as students, whose ac- 
quirements are to be confirmed, extended, and methodized: during the 
second, as masters, who are to be theoretically and practically taught the 
art of teaching. If the Normal course only lasts a year, this part of it 
ought to occupy at least six months ; if it lasts two years, it ought to oc- 
cupy a year ; if three years, it would still occupy only a year. The stu- 
dents in this last year would give lessons in the elementary and middle 
schools annexed to the Normal School. 

VI. The examination at quitting ought to be more rigid than that at 
entering the school. The important thing is to have young men of good 
capacity, even if they know little; for they will learn rapidly; while 
eome, who might not be deficient in a certain quantity of acquired know- 



2bU HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 

ledge, but were dull or wrong-headed, could never be made good school- 
mastera. No latitude whatever must be left to the Commission of Exam- 
ination at departure. Here, intelligence must show itself in positive 
attainments, since opportunit}^ to acquire them has been given. Nothing 
but negligence can have stood in their way, and that negligence would 
be the greatest of all faults. This latter examination, therefore, must be 
directed to ascertain the acquired, and not the natural fitness. But in 
the examination on entering, I wish that the Commission should more 
particularly inquire into the talents and natural bent, and. above all, into 
the moral character and disposition. A little discretionary power ought 
to be confided to it. This applies more especially to those Normal 
Schools, the course of which lasts two or three years. Three years of 
stud}' will not give intelligence ; but they will give all the necessary 
attainments in abundance. 

VII. It is my earnest desire, that conferences* should be formed among 
the schoolmasters of each canton. I wish it, but have but little hope of it, 
at least at first. Such conferences suppose both too great a love for their 
profession, and too great a familiarity with the spirit of association. A 
thing much more easy to accomplish is, that during the vacations of the 
primary schools, a certain number of masters should repair to the Normal 
School of the department to perfect themselves in this or that particular 
branch, and to receive lessons appropriate to their wants, as is the case 
in Prussia. This time would be ver}' usefully, and even very agreeably 
employed ; for the young masters would be brought into contact with 
their old instructors and companions, and would have an opportunity of 
renewing and cementing old friendships. Here would be an interesting 
prospect for them every year. For such an object, we must not grudge 
a little expense for their journey and their residence. I should therefore 
wish that the vacations of the primary schools, which must be regulated 
by certain agricultural labors, should always precede those of the primary 
Normal Schools, in order that the masters of the former might be able to 
take advantage of the lessons in the latter, and might be present at the 
parting examinations of the third year, v/hich would be an excellent ex- 
ercise for the young acting masters. 

I am convinced of the utility of having an inspector of primary schools 
for each department, who would spend the greater part of the year in 
going from school to school, in stirring up the zeal of the masters, in giv- 
ing a right direction to that of the communal committees, and in keeping 
up a general and very beneficial harmony among the maires and the 
cures. It is unnecessary for me to say, that this inspector ought always 
to be some old master of a Normal School, selected for his talents, and 
still more for his tried character. But if this institution, which is univer- 
sal in Germany, were not popular among us, nearly the same results 
might be obtained by authorizing the director, or in default of him, some 
masters of the Normal School, to visit a certain number of the schools oi 
the department every year, during the vacation of their own school, and 
to do what would be done by the inspector above named. They would 
find great facilities from their old habits of intercourse and friendship with 
most of the masters, over whom they would exercise almost a paternal 
influence. On the other hand, they would gain by these visits, and would 
acquire a continually increasing experience, which would turn to the ad- 
vantage of the Normal Schools. You have seen that in Prussia, besides 
thevisitsofthecircle-inspectors,the directors of Normal Schools make visit- 
ations of this kind, for which they receive some very slender remuneration ; 
for these little journeys are sources of pleasure to them, as well as of util- 
ity to the public. 

• See notes to Professor Stowe's Essay, page 87. 



HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. £31 

VIII. Let solidity, rather than extent, be aimed at, in the course of in- 
struction. The young masters must know a few things fundamentally, 
rather than many things superficially. Vague and superficial attain- 
ments must be avoided at any rate. The steady continuous labor which 
must be gone through to know anything whatsoever thoroughly^ is an 
admirable discipline tor the mind. Besides, nothing is so prolific as one 
thing well known ; it is an excellent starting point for a thousand others. 
The final examinations must be mainly directed to the elements, — they 
must probe to the bottom, they must keepsolidiiy always in view. 

IX. Avoid ambitious methods and exclusive systems : attend, above 
all, to results, that is to say, to solid acquirements ; and, with a view to 
them, consult experience. Clear explanations on every subject, connect- 
edness and continuity in the lessons, with an ardent love for the business 
of teaching, are worth all the general rules and methods in the world. 

X. A branch of study common to all schools ought to be the French 
tongue; the just pronunciation of words, and the purity and correctness 
of language. By this means the national language would insensibly 
supersede the rude unintelligible dialects and provincialisms. In the Nor- 
mal Schools where German is still the language of the people, German 
and French must both be taught, in order not to offend against local 
attachments, and at the same time to implant the spirit of nationality. 

XI. Without neglecting physical science, and the knowledge applica- 
ble to the arts of life, we must make moral science, which is of far higher 
importance, our main object. The mind and the character are what a 
true master ought, above all. to fashion. We must lay the foundations of 
moral life in the souls of our young masters, and therefore we must place 
religious instruction, — that is, to speak distinctly. Christian instruction, — in 
the first rank in the education of our Normal Schools. Leaving to the 
cure, or to the pastor of the place, the care of instilling the doctrines pecu- 
liar to each communion, we must constitute religion a special object of 
instruction, which must have its place in each year of the Normal course; 
so that at the end of the entire course, the young masters, without being 
theologians, may have a clear and precise knowledge of the history, doc- 
trines, and, above all, the moral precepts of Christianity. Without this, 
the pupils, when they become masters, would be incapable of giving any 
other religious instruction than the mechanical repetition of the catechism, 
which would be quite insufficient. I would particularlj^ urge this point, 
which is the most important and the most delicate of all. Before we can 
decide on what should constitute a true primary Normal School, we must 
determine whatou^ht to be tlie character of a simple elementary school, 
that is, a humble village school. The popular schools of a nation ought 
to be imbued with the religious spirit of that nation. Now without going 
into the question of diversities of doctrine, is Christianity, or is it not, the 
religion of the people of France? It can not be denied that it is. I ask 
then, is it our object to respect the religion of the people, or to destroy it? 
If we mean to set about destroying it, then, I allow, we ought by no 
means to have it taught in the people's schools. But if the object we 
propose to ourselves is totally different, we must teach our children that 
religion which civilized our fathers ; that religion whose liberal spirit pre- 
pared, and can alone sustain, all the great institutions of modern times. 
We must also permit the clergy to fulfil their first duty. — the superintend- 
ence of religious instruction. But in order to stand the test of this superin- 
tendence with honor, the schoolmaster must be enabled to give adequate 
religious instruction ; otherwise parents, in order to be sure that their 
children receive a good religious education, will require us to appoint 
ecclesiastics as schoolmasters, which, though assuredly better than having 
irreligious schoolmasters, would be Uable to very serious objections of 
various kinds. The less we desire our schools to be ecclesiastical, the 



232 HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 

more ought they to be Christian. It necessarily follows, that there must 
be a course of special religious instruction in our Normal Schools. Reli- 
gion is, in my eyes, the best, perhaps the only, basis of popular educa- 
tion. I know something of Europe, and never have I seen good schools 
where the spirit of Christian charity was wanting. Primary instruction 
flouri.Bhes in three countries, Holland, Scotland, and Germany; in all it is 
prolbuiidly religious. It is said to be so in America. The little popular 
instruction I ever found in Italy came from the priests. In France, with 
few exceptions, our best schools for the poor are those of the Freres de la 
Doctrine CKretienne. (Brothers of the Christian Doctrine.) These are facts 
which it is necessary to be incessantly repeating to certain persons. Let 
them go into the .schools of the poor, — let them learn what patience, what 
resignation, are required to induce a man to persevere in so toilsome an 
employment. Have better nurses ever been found than those benevolent 
nuns who bestow on poverty all those attentions we pay to wealth? 
There are things in human society which can neither be conceived nor 
accomplished without virtue, — that is to say, when speaking of the mass, 
without religion. The schools for the middle classes may be an object of 
speculation ; but the country schools, ihe miserable little schools in the 
south, in the west, in Britanny, in the mountains of Auvergne, and, with- 
out going so far. the lowest schools of our great cities, of Paris itself, will 
never hold out any adequate inducement to persons seeking a remunera- 
ting occupation. There will doubtless be some philosophers inspired 
with the ardent philanthropy of Saint Vincent de Paule, without his reli- 
gious enthusiasm, who would devote themselves to this austere vocation; 
but the question is not to have here and there a master. We have more 
than forty thousand schools to serve, and it were wise to call religion to 
the aid of our insufficient means, were it but for the alleviation of the 
pecuniary burdens of the nation. Either you must lavish the treasures 
of the state, and the revenues of the coniviunes, in order to give high 
salaries, and even pensions, to that new order of tradesmen called school- 
masters ; or you must not imagine you can do without Christian charity, 
and that spirit of poverty, humility, courageous resignation, and modest 
dignity, which Christianity, rightly understood and wisely taught, can 
alone give to the teachers of the people. The more 1 think of all this, the 
more 1 look at the schools in this country, the more I talk with the direct- 
ors of Normal Schools and councilors of the ministry, the more I am 
strengthened in the conviction that we must make any efforts or any 
sacrifices to come to a good imderstanding with the clergy on the subject 
of popular education, and to constitute religion a special and very care- 
fully-taught branch of instruction in our primary Normal Schools. 

1 am not ignorant that this advice will grate on the ears of many per- 
sons, and that Ishall be thought extremely devout at Paris. Yet it is not 
from Rome, but from Berlin, that I address you. The man who holds 
this language to you is a philosopher, formerly disliked, and even perse- 
cuted, by the priesthood ; but this philosopher has a mind too little atfect- 
ed by the recollection of his own insults, and is too well acquainted with 
human nature and with history, not to regard religion as an indestructi- 
ble power : genuine Christianity, as a means of civihzation for the people, 
and a necessary support for those on whom society imposes irksome and 
humble duties, without the slightest prospect of fortune, without the least 
gratification of selt-love. 

I am now arrived at the termination of this long report. May it be of 
use to you in the important work which now engages your attention! 
My illustrious colleague, M. Cuvier, has already exhibited to France the 
organization of primary instruction in Holland. The experience of Ger- 
many, and particularly of Prussia, ought not to be lost upon us. National 
rivalries or antipathies would here be completely out of place. The true 



HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 233 

greatness of a people does not consist in borrowing nothing from others, 
but in borrowing from all whatever is good, and in perfecting whatever it 
appropriates. 

I am as great an enemy as any one to artificial imitations ; but it is 
mere pusillanimity to reject a thing for no other reason than that it has 
been thought good by others. With the promptitude and justness of the 
French understanding, and the indestructible unity of our national char- 
acter, we may assimilate all that is good in other countries without fear 
of ceasing to be ourselves. Placed in the center of Europe, possessing 
every variety of climate, bordering on all civilized nations, and holding up 
perpetual intercourse with them, France is essentially cosmopolitan; and 
indeed this is the main source of her great influence. Besides, civilized 
Europe now forms but one great family. We constantly imitate England 
in ail that concerns outward life, the mechanical arts, and physical refine- 
ments; why, then, should we blush to borrow something from kind, hon- 
est, pious, learned Germany, in what regards inward life and the nurture 
of the soul? 

For my own part, I avow my high esteem and peculiar affection for 
the German people; and I am happy that my mission proved to them 
that the revolution of July, — that revolution, as necessary and as just as 
the legitimate right of self defense; that revolution, sprung from the 
unanimous resistance of a great people to a capricious aggression, an 
open violation, not of hypothetical rights, but of liberties secured by law, — 
is not, as its enemies pretend, a return to the impiety, the licentiousness 
and the corruption of a fatal period ; but, on the contrary, the signal for 
a general improvement in opinion and in morals ; since one of the first acts 
of the new government has been the holy enterprise of the amelioration of 
public education, of which the instruction of the people is the basis." 

With this preparation, — a good beginning already made in several de- 
partments, and the long and successful experience of Prussia and other 
German states before him, — a regulation was framed by M. Guizot, and 
sanctioned by the Council of Public Instruction, by which, in connection 
with the law of 1833, a system of Normal Schools has been established 
and is fast regenerating the elementary instruction in France. The fol- 
lowing is an outline of the system : 

Each department is obliged, either alone or in conjunction with other 
neighboring departments, to support one Normal School for the education 
of its schoolmasters. 

The expense of this estabhshment for building, apparatus, and instruc- 
tion, is borne mainly by the department, whilst the direction of the educa- 
tion given in it is vested in the Minister of Public Instruction, who is re- 
sponsible to the Chambers, of both of which he is an ex officio member, 
for the right exercise of his power. 

The immediate management of Normal Schools and of the model 
schools annexed is committed to a Director who is appointed by the Min- 
ister, on the presentation of the prefect of the department, and the rector 
of the academy. These directors are paid wholly or partially from the 
public funds set apart by the department for public instruction. If the 
department refuses or neglects to provide sufficient funds, the govern- 
ment enforces the collection of the necessary tax ; if the department is 
overburdened, the government contributes its aid. 

To meet the expense of board, the pupils are assisted by gratuities, or 
bursaries, which the communes, departments, the university, the state, 
and even individuals, have established for this purpose. These burses 
are usually granted in halves or quarters, the rest of the expense being 



234 HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 

borne by the pupils. Of 1944 pupil-teachers in 1834, 1308 were bursars 
of the departments, 118 of the communes, 245 of the state, and 273 were 
maintained at their own expense. 

Every candidate for admission to these institutions, and to the enjoy- 
ment of a bourse, or any part of one, must bind himself to follow the pro- 
fession of a parish schoolmaster for ten years at least after quitting the 
institution ; and to reimburse it for the whole expense of his maintenance, 
if he fail to fulfill his decennial engagement. He must have completed 
his sixteenth year ; and besides the ordinary elementary acquirements, 
must produce evidence both of good previous character, and of general 
intelligence and aptitude to learn. Most of the bursaries are adjudged 
upon a comparative trial among competitors, who are likely to become 
every year more numerous : and the examination for admission is so well 
arranged and conducted, that it tends to raise higher and higher the 
standard of previous acquirement. 

The course of instruction and training to which the youth is thus intro- 
duced, occupies two years of eleven months each, i. e. from the first of 
October to the first of the ensuing September, and embraces the follow- 
ing objects: — 

1st. Moral and religious instruction. The latter, in as far as it is dis- 
tinct from the former, is given by the clergyman of the particular faith 
which the pupil happens to profess. 

2d. Reading, with the grammar of their own language. 

3d. Arithmetic, including an intimate and practical acquamtance with 
the legal system of weights and measures. This knowledge is made to 
hold so prominent a part in the program of instruction, as afibrding the 
best means of introducing that admirable system into the habits of the 
French people, among whom, from ignorance and prejudice, it is still far 
from being generally adopted. 

4th. Linear drawing, and construction of diagrams, land-measuring, 
and other applications of practical geometry. 

5th. Elements of physical science, with a special view to the purposes 
of ordinary lite. 

6th. Music, taught by the eye as well as by the ear. 

7th. Gymnastics. 

8th. The elements of general geography and history, and the particu- 
lar geography and history of France. 

9th. The pupils are instructed, and, wherever the locality admits, exer- 
cised also, in the rearing of esculent vegetables, and in the pruning and 
grafting of trees. 

10th. They are accustomed to the drawing out of the simpler legal 
forms and civil deeds. 

A library for the use of the pupils is fitted up within the premises ; and 
a sum is set apart every year for the purchase of such works as the Coun- 
cil of Public Instruction may judge likely to be useful to the young 
schoolmasters. 

The course of study is, for the present, limited to two years, instead of 
three, which is the term ultimately contemplated as the most desirable. 
During the second of those years, instruction in the principles of the art of 
teaching is kept constantly in view ; and for the last six months, in partic- 
ular, the pupils are trained to the practical application of the most approved 
methods, by being employed as assistants in the difierent classes of the 
primary schools, which are invariably annexed to the Normal, and form 
part and parcel of the establishment. 

The director, besides general superintendence, is charged with some 
important branch of the instruction; the rest is devolved on his adjuncts, 
or assistant masters, who reside in the establishment. 

Any graduate of a Normal School can attend any of the courses of ia- 



HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 235 

struction in the Normal School of the department in which he resides, to 
learn new methods, or improve his previous acquirements. The depart- 
ments are authorized to grant assistance to such teachers. The Normal 
Schools admit pupils of different religious denominations. All sectarian 
instruction is avoided in the general lessons, and the pupils receive this 
instruction at times set apart for it from clergymen of their own church. 
Until a pupil has obtained a certificate of his proficiency in the doctrines 
of his own rehgion, from a minister of his own church, he can not officiate 
as a schoolmaster. Any person who ventures to conduct a public school 
without having obtained from the departmental committee of examination 
a certificate of qualification, is liable to a fine of two hundred francs. 
The Departmental Committee, or Commission of Examination, is com- 

fiosed of at least seven members appointed by the Minister of Public 
nstruction, upon the recommendation of the rector of the academy. 
Three members at least must be selected from among those who have 
already exercised, or are at the time exercising the function of public 
teachers, and who are most likely to unite ability and integrity. It is 
recommended that one of the seven be a clergyman. " To act." says 
the Minister, in a circular addressed to each of the twenty-six rectors, — 
" to act in concert with the three members belonging to the body of Pub- 
lic Instruction in these Commissions d? exxtmen, a minister of religion will 
doubtless be summoned. The law has put moral and religious instruction 
in the foremost rank ; the teacher, therefore, must give proof of his being 
able to communicate to the children intrusted to his care, those important 
ideas which are to be the ruleof tlieir lives. Doubtless every functionary 
of public instruction, every father of a family who shall be placed on this 
commission by your recommendation, as rector of the academy, will be 
fully able to appreciate the moral and religious attainments of the candi- 
dates; but it is. nevertheless, fit and proper, that the future teachers of 
youth should exhibit proof of their capacity in this respect, before persons 
whom their peculiar character and special mission more particularly qual- 
ify to be judges in this matter." 

The most important of all the duties devolved upon these examining 
commissions, is that of conferring on the pupil, when he quits the institu- 
tion, a brevet de capacite. Carelessness, partiality, or ignorance, in the 
discharge of it, would entirely defeat the main object of the law on primary 
instruction. This brevet, certifying the holder's fitness to be a teacher, 
either in the lower or higher grade of primary schools, constitutes his 
passport to the labors and honors of his profession. With it, and his cer- 
tificate of good conduct in his pocket, he may carry his skill and industry 
to any market he pleases, without further let or impediment. 

There are three grades of certificates of qualification for both element- 
ary and superior primary; tres bien, (very good,)bien, (good,) and assez- 
bien, (sufficient.) Avhich infuses a spirit of competition throughout the 
pupils of the Normal Schools, and the public schools generally. 

The system of Normal Schools has remained substantially on this basis 
to the present time. Every year has extended and consolidated its influ- 
ence in spite of the interested opposition of old and inefficient teachers, 
who find themselves less and less ajipreciated, and the complaint of local 
committees, who in many instances are disposed to take up with the first 
teacher who presents himself, whether qualified or not. Their number 
has increased from forty-three in 1833 to ninety-three in 1849, including 
ten Institutes belonging to the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, and 
three for female teachers, under the auspices of an association of Christian 
Education, on a similar plan. In 1834 there were but 1,044 graduates ol 



236 HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 

Normal Schools employed in the primary schools ; in 1848, this number 
had increased to 10,545. The expense of this branch of the school sys- 
tem cost in 1 841, according to a report of M. Villemain, — 

To the State, 164,445 francs. 

" Communes, 23,890 

« Departments, . . . 1,081,348 
« Pupils, 268,520 

Total, . . . 1,538,203 



CONFERENCES. OR TEACHERS' ASSOCIATIONS;, 

AND TEACHERS' LIBRARIES. 



The suggestion of M. Cousin in his Report* as to the utility of conferen- 
ces of teachers, was not acted upon by the Council of Public Instruction 
until 1837. In February of that year, a law was presented by the Minis- 
ter of this department and passed by the Chambers on this subject. The 
substance of this law is presented in the following remarks by M. Willm, 
m his valuable treatise on the Education of the People. 

" This law treats, in the first place, of the object of conferences; and then, of 
their epochs and government. The first article authorizes ' the teachers of one 
or several districts to assemble, with the sanction of the local authorities, and, 
under the close inspection of the committee of the department, to confer amongst 
tJiemselves on the different subjects of their teaching — on the ways and methods 
they employ — and on the principles which ought to be adopted in the education 
of children and conduct of masters. Every other subject of discussion must be 
excluded from these conferences.' In regard to this article, I would observe, 
that it would not be advantageous for teachers who thus assemble to be very 
numerous; and that they must avoid coming from too great a distance to the 
place of meeting. Neither must they be very few in number; because, in that 
case, there would be too little variety and animation in their labors ; but, were 
ihey more than twelve or fifteen, each would not he able to take an active part 
in the proceedings. 

The second article reminds teachers that the law has placed at the head of 
the subject-matters of instruction, moral and religious instruction; and that it 
is their duty to occupy themselves with it. From this it seems to follow, that 
teachers belonging to diiferent sects must not assemble together in the same 
conferences. In Alsace, for example, priests or ministers are generally presi- 
dents — which is a stronger reason 'for teachers of diiferent communions not as- 
sembling promiscuously together. 

The third article says, that the superior committees will point out to the dif- 
ferent assemblies the subjects on which the attention of the teachers ought more 
especially to be fixed. These committees hitherto have, unfortunately, occupied 
themselves very little with such conferences; some even have opposed their 
formation, or given them an organization very difl^erent from that recommended 
by the royal council. Can there be no means of remedying this omnipotence 
of the committees, and regulating that liberty, in such a way as not to risk 
anarchy 1 

According to the fourth article, ' each teacher may beg permission to give an 
account of what he has read since last meeting, to make observations on the 
works in connection with primary instruction recently published, to read some 
essay of his own on the discipline of schools, or on some one of the branches of 
instruction.' Each may, besides, address to the assembly a verbal communi- 
cation on the art of teaching, submit to it a doubt or diificulty, which in his 
daily practice he may have met. 

The eighth article says that the president of the conferences must always be 
appointed by the rector of the academy. The president ought, wherever pos- 
sible, to be selected from such as are not members of the association ; he should 
be some friend and connoisseur of popular education, without being teacher; 
he will thus direct the debates and labors of the conference with more authority 
and a wider range of view ; the information which he displays in the discharge 

• See page 000. 



238 CONFERENCKS OF TEACIIEllS IN FRANCE. 

of his duties will be more varied and profound ; and he will be, in the midst of 
teachers, the interpreter of what the world expects from them. 

Every thing will depend on the manner in which their labors are directed, 
and on the zeal with which the teachers engage in them. One of the principal 
results of conference ought to be, the exercising them in speaking. Speech is 
the instrument of the art of teaching. In the management of a school, and in 
all that concerns the mechanism of teaching, the teacher ought to speak little ; 
his commands ought to be brief; and, in most cases, a word, a gesture, a look 
will suffice. But in teaching, properly so called, when he is engaged in ex- 
pounding the first truths of morality and religion, in explaining whal has been 
read by the pupils, in narrating to them the history of the Bible or national his- 
tory, (sacred or profane history,) in telling them of the wonders of the heavens 
and the earth — then he must be able to speak with fluency, clearness, and pre- 
cision, if not eloquently. Children, like men, are fascinated by the charms of 
speech. The choicest things, badly said, produce on them no impression ; and 
— like arroAVS, darted by a feeble and trembling hand — glide, so to speak, over 
the surface of their mind, and never reach its depths. 

The essays of the teachers may consist of two kinds. One class may be 
written on any subjects, but should be analogous to what teachers prescribe to 
their most ad/anced pupils — such as some scene of nature or of human life, a 
grand or useful thought, an historical fact, &c. These essays ought not to be 
long; and must be written v/ilh that correct simplicity, which is as far removed 
from the inelegancies of a vulgar style, as from the far-fetched phraseology of 
the Wit. These first essays— exercises in composition and thought — Avill also 
be a means of perfecting the teachers in the art of speaking. The other kind 
of essays, treating of some branch of the pedagogic art, may be more directly 
useful to them. In composing them, theirraemory, their own experience, rather 
than books, ought to be consulted ; and simplicity and truth, rather than novelty 
and originality, ought to be aimed at. The greatest possible clearness, pi'e- 
cision, and actual utility ought lo be the distinguishing features of these essays. 

In some societies of teachers, the same question is offered to the consideration 
of all the members — thus creating amongst thera a species of competition : but 
as every essay must be read and discussed during the meeting, they would be 
restricted, in folloAving this mode of procedure, to the composition only of t-\vo 
or three a-year; or obliged to multiply, beyond measure, the number of the 
meetings; and in both cases the interest would be, inevitably, diminished. It 
is desirable, however, that at each silling, the same subject be handled by two 
members. The two essays would co:npete with each other, and occasion a 
discussion ; Avhich the president would take care to manage, so that all might 
speak in rotation, and that no one, while speaking, tali^ undue advantage. 
Every expression of praise or censure, every observation lending to shock self- 
esteem or modesty, ought, on all sides, to be prohibited. If at the termination 
of the sitting, the majority be not sufficiently instructed, they could commission 
the president, or another meniber, to resume the discussion at the next con- 
ference. 

On other occasions, to vary still farther the proceedings, the author of an 
essay could address it some days before the meeting, in ihe form of a letter, to 
one of his colleagues, requesting his opinion of it, I'he letter and reply might 
then be read, and their contents discussed in the ordinary manner. This pro- 
cedure is preferable, in my opinion, to the practice of several societies in Ger- 
many. After the reading of an essay, a member is then enjoined to present a 
criticism of it at next meeting. This method is accompanied with serious in- 
conveniences. Self-love becomes a willing co-operator. The critic endeavors, 
by every means, to find cause for controversy, and believes himself, in some 
sense, obliged to think difl^erently from him whom he has been appointed to 
judge. In this manner concord and friend.ship, so necessary to the prosperity of 
the association, are, without great benefit to truth, seriously compromised. 

I would add, that copies of all the essays should be deposited in the library, 
where every one might consult them. 

I have said that each member may demand permission to make to the a.ssem- 
bly any communication relative to the art of teaching ; to submit to it a ques- 
tion, a doubt, an observation, which his practice may have ."suggested to him. 
Such communications add much to the interest and utility of conferences. By 
means of ihem, the experience of each becomes, la some sense, the experience 



LIBRARIES FOR TEACHERS IN FRANCE. 239 

of all. Those who have been occupied many years in teaching will aid their 
junior fellow-laborers. 

In fine, it may happen, and it happens but too often, that, in their relations 
with the local authorities and the parents, differences arise, to disturb the good 
understanding — the perfect harmony between them and the teachers. These 
differences should be submitted in the conferences to the appreciation of their 
colleagues — to the judgment of their compeers. They will thus be less subject 
to mistakes and anger; and, when necessary, more undaunted in repelling in- 
justice, and in maintaining their rights. 

LIBRARIES FOR THE USE OP TEACHERS IN FRANCE. 

The fifteenth article of the law of February, 1837, on conferences of 
teachers, provides for the establishment of libraries for the use of those 
who attend the conferences. By means of the funds which the parishes 
or the county have granted for this purpose, or by means of clubbing 
among the teachers, a library should be formed for those who attend 
the conferences regularly. The books composing the library should be 
inserted in a catalogue, Avhich must be verified every year. A copy of 
paid catalogue must be sent to the Minister of Public Instruction. 

M. Willm makes the following remarks on the subject : 

" Such libraries may be established by teachers who do not assemble in 
regular conferences, or associate for such a purpose. A distinguished teacher 
may be conceived to address the following langunge to his colleagues, to induce 
them to establish such a society : ' Two principal objections may be made 
against this scheme. In the first place, how, with ihe scanty resources at our 
disposal, can we establish a library, in the smallest degree, complete; and 
then, amongst such a host of books, whose number augments every day, will 
not a proper selection be difficult — even impossible 1 In replying to these ob- 
jections, f will, at the same time, let you know my views on the course to be 
pursued in the acquisition of books. These views are the results of my own 
experience, and of the counsels which, in former times, I was fortunate to 
receive. 

I do not dissemble the importance of the doubts I am attempting to remove; 
the first, especially, seems but too well founded. How, indeed, with our trifling 
resources, can we hope to establish in a few years a library ever so little worthy 
of the namel We are ten members; each of us will put into the society's 
strong box, three shillings as entry money, and a .shilling per month, or twelve 
shillings per annum : this is much for us — too much peihaps; and it is to be 
desired, that, at a later period, this monthly payment be reduced. We will 
thus have at our disposal, the first year, the sum of one hundred and fifty shil- 
lings. Of this sum, fifteen shillings must be spent in purchasing registeis^i pens, 
and paper ; and, by adding ten shillings for small incidental expenses, our in- 
come will be reduced to one hundred and twenty-five shillings. We must be- 
come subscribers for two pedagogic journals, which may cost about twenty-five 
shillings a year. To lay the foundation of our library, about one hundred shil- 
lings remain. 

To found, with a himdred shillings, a library, appears absurd — impossible. 
But let us forget for an instant the ambitious name of library, and simply say 
that we unite together for the purpose of procuring, in one year, ten times more 
books than each of us singly could purchase, and it will be granted that we are 
doing a judicious thing, and making an excellent speculation. Will it not be a 
sufficiently good result of our association, if, instead of one or two works, which 
perhaps each of us might have purchased, besides what are indispensable, we 
nave at the end of the year from ten to twenty at our disposal "? And supposing 
we continue at this rate for ten years; instead of from ten to twenty, would we 
not have from one hundred to two hundred, and perhaps more'? And could 
not our collection, then, without too much vanity, be styled a library 1 Great 
things have often sprung from small beginnings. If you persevere, you will 
have the merit of bequeathing to your successors a considerable number of 



240 LIBRARIES FOR TEACHERS IN FRANCE. 

books; and, after two or three generations, the teachers of our district will 
have for their use a valuable library. Is, then, the thought of working for the 
future of no estimation to the good man, and is not even that thought for us, as 
says Lafontaine, a fruit which to-day we enjoy? 

But, besides the satisfaction of founding a work for which our successors 
will bless us, we ourselves will reap from it precious advantages. By associa- 
tino', we unshackle the means of instruction. The books besides, which after 
deliberation and common consent we procure, will be better selected, than if 
each had been left to his own knowledge. And if you adopt my views of the 
course to be followed in the acquisition of books, if you select them according 
to fixed principles, agreed to beforehand, they will form, in the very first year, 
in spite of their fewness, a finished whole. Ten, twenty volumes selected with 
judgment, according to a certain plan, and M'hich, by referring to each other, 
mutually complete and explain each other, are— in spite of the variety of their 
contents and immediate object — more valuable than three or four times as 
many works, excellent, perhaps, but chosen at random and inconsequently. 
From this, it follows, that after ten years' association, we might have at our 
command, not only ten times more books than we would have had, if each had 
been left to his own resources ; but that these books, more judiciously selected, 
will have a relative value much greater than the same, or double the number 
of volumes collected at random. 

An association affords still another advantage in this respect. There are 
works composed of several volumes, and whose price is such, that the majority 
of teachers are incapable of procuring them at their own expense. United, we 
can acquire, if necessary, even very expensive works, and some of these publi- 
cations may be indispensable. 

We may, besides, entertain the hope that other .teachers will soon join us. I 
cherish another hope ; I hope, if we persevere, that the communities of our dis- 
trict, that the higher committee of our parish and the academy, will come to 
our aid. As we think not of ourselves alone whilst we are endeavoring to en- 
large the limits of our instruction, but of our schools and of the future, we can, 
without a blush, invoke the assistance of all who are interested in popular edu- 
cation — of the citizens who discover in it a means of public felicity — and of the 
authorities intrusted with its direction. Works, we do not doubt, will pour in 
from different sources, and, if we seriously wish it, we will soon have at our 
disposal a stock of books, sufficiently respectable to constitute the nucleus of a 

DISTRICT-SCHOOL LIBRARY. 

I come to the second objection — the difficulty of making a suitable selection 
among so many books. This difficulty is serious ; but in proportion to the 
scantiness of our means, we are less liable to be misled., This consideration, 
far from discouraging us, ought only to impress still more deeply the principles 
which ought to guide our selection. 

The number of works on all subjects, has, for a century especially, prodi- 
giously increased. The science of education, for a long time neglected, and 
treated by some distinguished writers only at distant intervals, reckons, in our 
days, its books by hundreds — if we comprehend those addressed especially to 
childhood and youth. But we must not be frightened by this multitude; this 
riches, in the main, is but apparent. Many of those works whose titles swell 
the catalogues of the booksellers, are old and obsolete; many others are but 
imitations and of little value. Good writers of every kind are not numerous ; 
and even among the good, a selection can be made. The essential point is to 
know how to select well. As to old books, we will trust to their reputation, 
which seldom misleads ; and as to new books, we will consult enlightened men. 

Of the works recognized as good, we will always select the best and the 
most complete. To read much is not the principal point, but to read well; and 
to read often the best productions. The fruits which may be reaped from read- 
ing, depend as much upon the manner of reading, as upon the excellence of the 
books read. 

Our library Avill be composed of three kinds of works. In the first rank, we 
shall place such as treat of the art of education; of teaching in general; of 
primary instruction in particular. It will not be necessary to secure a great 
number of books of this class; a few solid and complete treatises, which epito- 
mise the science, will suffice for the commencement. The most es.sential pre- 
cepts and the rules universally approved, are found in all good productions of 



UBRARIES FOR TEACHERS IN FRANCE. 241 

any length. To good treatises, however, to encyclopedic manuals, which exhibit 
pedagogy as a whole, and which, faithful to the precept, jrrove all things and 
cleave to what is good — unite what even the difTerent methods possess of most 
practical and reasonable — we will add, later works upon the most remarkable 
special methods. Still later, in a few years, we may be able to admit into our 
collection a certain number of works already old, which, like Rousseau's Emile, 
have formed an epoch in the history of the an of education ; then, to keep pace 
with the progress of the science, we only have to procure, at distant intervals, 
some good new treatise. 

The second series of works of our future library, should consist of such as 
expound either the whole or some branch of primary instruction ; of manuals of 
religion and morality ; of arithmetic, geography, and general or national his- 
tory ; natural history, physics, hygiane, agriculture, and technology ; written 
expressly for teachers, children, and the people. 

Finally, the richest portion of our library might be composed of instructive 
and rare works, which, while adding to our knowledge, will afford useful relax- 
ation, and the means of infusing into our lessons a wholesome variety ; of ex- 
citing and sustaining the attention of our pupils, and of throwing an interest 
around our teaching. 

I rank in this third class oihooks, first, extracts or selections from travels in 
the different quarters of the globe. They will supply the place of the original 
narratives, too dear, and which include, besides, generally many very useless 
details, or things already known. There is scarcely any kind of reading more 
interesting than the history of travels in distant countries, and which furnishes 
the most useful materials for the instruction of youth. 

Secondly, historical works, particularly natural history, selecting, in prefer- 
ence, such as have been composed for the young of schools. We might extract 
from them, to narrate to our pupils, those trails of magnanimity and devoted- 
ness to one's country and humanity, which constitute the beauty and honor of 
history. 

Thirdly, I would place in our library a few religious and national poets; 
good anthologies; selections and collections of pieces in prose and verse ; a few 
books more especially written for the instruction and amusement of childhood 
and youth, and which can be read to and by our pupils. 

Fourthly, popular works which, addressed directly to the people, in towns 
and in the country, strive to snatch them from the misery of ignorance, to ren- 
der them better and happier; and which adapt to their capacity, morality, 
counsels of prudence, and the most interesting and useful results of science in 
general. Till each parish possess its own library, we shall form, as it were, an 
intermediate stage, a connecting link, between science and the people. To ex- 
plain these books, and to facilitate the comprehension of them, we must our- 
selves be thoroughly acquainted with them. We will find in them, besides, an 
abundant source of instruction for ourselves and for our pupils. 

In short, my dear Colleagues, our library ought to consist of a small number 
of works on methods; manuals of all the iDranches of primary instruction and 
of the education of the people ; and many instructive and popular works. 
Thus, all works of pure amusement, and such as are not addressed directly 
either to schools or youth, to the people or to the teachers of the people, must 
be excluded. By confining ourselves within these limits, our selection will not 
be difhcult; especially if we be guided by men well versed in such matters. 
Let us begin the work ; let us persevere in the prosecution of it ; and soon we 
shall have to congratulate ourselves on having undertaken it, and on having 
founded, at the expense of a few light sacrifices, an institution of incontestible 
utility.' " 



16 



MEANS OF IMPROVING 

THE 

PECUNIARY CONDITION OF TEACHERS IN FRANCE. 



The provisions of the French law respecting Teachers' Conferences 
and Libraries, and the remarks of M. WiUm, are intended to show how 
teachers, by association, may add to the acquirements of the Normal 
School, keep pace with new methods and discoveries, clear up the diffi- 
culties and supply the wants met with in their particular position, and es- 
cape from that meaningless routine of practices, and dull uniformity of 
character, to which their profession pursued alone exposes them. But 
the French law aims, although imperfectly, to ameliorate the teacher's 
condition, and the condition of his family, by guarding against present 
and future want. On these points M. Willm makes many judicious sug- 
gestions from Avhich American teachers may profit. 

" If poverty be always an evil, it is especially so to the teacher; because it 
prevents him from performing efficiently his duty, and enjoying due distinction. 
His functions will be doubly painful, if the cares of the morrow deprive him of 
the energy sufficient to accomplish his daily task. I demand not wealth for the 
teacher: I ask not that he be rich, but beyond the reach of indigence; that 
he be able to live in honest ease, without being obliged to devote himself to la- 
bors foreign to his profession; that he have the power to continue his studies, 
to support a family, and to enjoy an honorable repose in his old age — if Heaven 
accord him length of days — or die undisturbed as to the future lot of his 
children, if carried away from them in the midst of his career. 

The condition of the teacher is at present widely different from this. The 
law of 1833 has undoubtedly bettered his lot; — and it were ungrateful to deny 
it. It may be said, indeed, that in general, schoolmasters are better paid in 
France than in most other countries. In Germany there are a considerable 
number who do not gain the minimum salary of four hundred francs; and even 
in Prussia, the average — every thing included — is, for a town-teacher, eight 
hundred francs; for a country teacher, about three hundred francs: and let us 
remark that, in Prussia, living is much dearer than in France. It is not neces- 
sary to reckon up in detail our every-day expenses, to be convinced that, with 
such a paltry income, it is wholl}' impossible to maintain housekeeping on the 
most economical principle; and that a family of industrious laborers has much 
greater chance of prospering than that of a teacher. 

In France, I repeat, teachers are, in general, much better paid. In towns, it 
is seldom that they do not gain from one thousand to twelve hundred francs; 
and in several localities their income exceeds this. In the country, there are 
few whose salaiy is under five hundred francs; and many gain a great deal 
more. But five hundred francs and one thousand francs are but poor remunera- 
tion for three hundred and sixty-five days' labor ; for to gain even that sum, the 
teacher is most frequently obliged to add to the functions of schoolmaster, those 
of beadle, organist, and chanter; such a sum is too inconsiderable to support a 
family; for we always lake for granted that the teacher is married, and has a 
family : and that so he sets a good example, and is rendered more qualified to 
train men and citizens. 

The condition of teachers must therefore be improved ; it must be rendered 
more pleasant, and, at the same time, more respected, not only with a regard to 
their interests, but especially for the sake of schools, of the people, and of the 
state itself. 



244 MEANS OF IMPROVING TEACHERS' CONDITION. 

1. Teachers may themselves do much to ameliorate their lot, and raise their 
condition. They must remember the old proverb — help yourself, and Heaven 
will help yom,. M. Schlez, a much esteemed German teacher, thinks that a 
teacher should always follow some trade, avoiding scrupulously, however, 
every degrading calling, or which might bring him into competition with the 
inhabitants of the district. He proposes, as compatible with the functions of 
the teacher of the people, gardening; the cultivation and grafting of trees ; the 
rearing of bees and silk-worms ; musical instrument-making; clock-making; 
bookbindmg; bandbox-making; moulding; painting; the art of turning; the 
construction of barometers and thermometers ; the duties of copyist and book- 
l^eeper — and, finally, private lessons. But many of these occupations would 
require too long an apprenticeship, or engage too much time, to render them 
lucrative ; or they wouldneed an outlay beyond the ordinary means of a teacher. 
Country teachers might find a valuable resource, as well as a noble recreation, 
in the cultivation of a garden of limited extent, which all districts ought to 
have at their disposal ; and the ground of which, if it could not be purchased, 
they might almost always find opportimity to rent. 

The art of gardening, which includes the grafting of trees, the cultivation of 
useful plants and of flowers, appears the most compatible with the occupation 
of teachers; between them are close analogies. That art can be learned at 
small expense, and in a short time. The teacher who, from his being well 
paid, needs not devote himself to pursuits foreign to his profession, might follow 
it simply for amusement; others would find it a means of improving their con- 
dition : and the employment would neither be degrading nor fatiguing. I have 
seen one of these gardens cultivated by a teacher, whose school was a garden 
blessed to him by Heaven. One division of it furnished kitchen vegetables ; 
another was planted with fruit-trees of the best sorts; a third, was a nursery 
exceedingly varied, and flowers abounded in every quarter. Often he led to it 
his select pupils ; his garden was at once a source 'of pleasure and profit to him- 
self and of instruction to his school. This example ought to be generally imi- 
tated. To the cultivation of a garden and orchard, country teachers might join, 
according to circumstances, ihe rearing of bees or silk-worms. During winter, 
study and instruction ought exclusively to occupy them, and nothing should 
prevent their keeping an evening-school for adults, or for young people from 
fifteen to twenty years of age, as is done in several districts of Alsace. This 
evening-school, which might be of great utility, would supplement a little in- 
come ; and it depends but on the interest they had in it, to induce a great num- 
ber of their old pupils to take an active part in this additional instruction. 
Bandbox-making and book-binding, would likewise be suitable occupations, 
but not very lucrative. 

Shall I inform the country teachers that they have in their own power an- 
other means of being in less uneasy circumstances, and that this means is rigid 
economy, a retired and unassuming life '\ I have scarcely courage to do so, for 
the majority are indeed forced to be economical. There is, however, a consid- 
erable number who frequent inns and coflTee-shops ; and who are too much en- 
gaged in public amusements, little compatible with the moral authority which 
they ought to exercise, or with the state of their fortune. Without preventing 
thein, on certain occasions, from mingling with public life, and sharing the 
honest pleasures of society, they ought to be coun.seled not to be prodigal of 
themselves, nor to court these occasions; but carefully to avoid whatever may 
tend to compromise their dignity, or lead them into useless expense. 

In several Normal Schools, the pupil-masters are taught to draw up dvil ads, 
as a great many of them will one day become registrars at the mayoralty. 
Such functions very well correspond with those of teachers in small parishes 
where there are few acts to write, provided the registrar-teacher can abstain 
from mixing himself up with the municipal passions, often very violent in the 
smallest villages. Some, likewise, compete with the notary, and for a trifling 
salary, draw out contracts in private. 

Land-surveying affords another resource ; a very inconsiderable number can 
be emploved in it, and little dependence should be placed on it. 

In short, besides a life sober and modest, the cultivation of trees, the rearing 
of bees and silkworms, a little rural and domestic economy, private lessons, the 
functions of registrar, land-surveying, and, perhaps, book-binding and bandbox- 
making, are the methods by which teachers may ameliorate their condition, 



MEANS OF IMPROVING TEACHERS' CONDITION. 245 

without neglecting their duties, or derogating from their dignify. There is, 
however, still another resource which might be valuable: it is that which 
teachers may find in the assistance of their partners: if they knew well how to 
choose — if they chose not such as are rich, but such as are economical, well- 
educated, good, and intelligent. 1 know some who are not only good house- 
keepers, but who render great services to the community by the examples and 
lessons they give to the young girls of the district. 

Teachers' wives, in the absence of sisters or governesses, properly so called, 
ought to be able to undertake the teaching of needle-work and other similar 
branches, as well as the management of infant-schools, throughout all the rural 
districts. Their rank, as mothers, far from being an obstacle, would adapt 
them still better for the discharge of such functions ; and when temporarily pre- 
vented from accomplishing them themselves, they would easily find among 
the young girls they had trained, assistants to supply their place. 

2. Communes (corresponding to nur parishes, towns and districts) may place 
at the disposal of the teacher a portion of ground capable for farming, an orchard 
and garden. To the school-house, which the 12th ariicle of the organic law 
obliges every parish to provide for the teacher, ought always to be annexed, in 
the country, a piece of ground for a garden. If it were impossible to purchase 
such a piece of ground, the parish might secure it on a long lease, or supply its 
place by an annual indemnification of fifty francs to the teacher. In fine, the 
parishes that possess the means, should be obliged to supplement the fixed 
legal salary, in proportion to the increase of their ordinary revenue. Several 
general councils have voted funds to indemnify teachers who attend conferences, 
and to aid in the maintenance of libraries established by them. This example 
ought to be generally imitated. Instead of limiting themselves to making up 
the exact legal salary of teachers, when the revenues of the parishes are defi- 
cient, the counties ought to aid such as can not raise the salary of their school- 
masters to the minimum of five hundred francs, comprising every kind of 
emolument. The majority of the general councils vote funds for improving the 
breed of horses and cattle ; why could they not establish. a few premiums for 
the amelioration of mankind? Why could they not grant, every year, a few 
prizes to the best teachers of each district — those whom the reports of the in- 
spectors and the committees recognized as the best 1 In fine, the parishes — 
and, they failing, the counties and the state — ought always to provide a mode- 
rate retiring provision for deserving teachers ; so that they may not dread re- 
tiring, when age unfits them for the maintenance of discipline. The higher 
school authorities, — the departmental and county councils, — could add to the pre- 
mium now required by law. 

3 The nation alone can make thorough provision for the necessary amelio- 
ration of teachers, who are now public functionaries, and intrusted with the ed- 
ucation of the people. That they may discharge their functions v/ith courage- 
and devotedness, it is necessary, after they have been properly trained in the 
Normal Schools, and their morality and capacity M-ell attested, to make them 
a suitable appointment, so as to enable them to devote themselves exclusively 
to their school-duties; to live honorably, though unostentatiously, and to con- 
tinue improving themselves. It is necessary, besirles, to aflx)rd them a pension 
when old age renders retreat imperative, and to remove from them all appre- 
hensions as to the lot of their families should they die prematurely — victims of 
their zeal in executing their painful duties. 

Let me be permitted to observe, that the law of June, 1833 — that law, in 
other respects, so full of wisdom, which grateful posterity will always quote 
, with respect, and from which dates truly good primary instruction in France — 
that law, I say. whilst declaring popular schools a public obligation, a social 
necessity, and raising teachers to the rank of communal and irremoveable 
functionaries, has not done enough to render their condition what it ought to be, 
nor sufficiently armed the executive for the strict execution of the law. 

The twelfth article says, that every parish teacher shall be provided with a 
locality, properly situated for a habitation and the reception of pupils. I have 
mentioned, elsewhere, how this order of the law has, in many places, been exe- 
cuted; and in what sense many parishes understand the word jyropcrly. 

The same article guarantees the primary teacher a fixed salary of at least 
two hundred francs : it is now prettv generally acknowledged, that the minimum 
should be raised to three hundred francs: it results from calculations made by 



246 MEANS OF IMPROVING TEACHERS' CONDITION. 

the Minister of Public Instruction in his last report, that to raise the minimum 
to three hundred francs, it would be requisite to add a million to the budget, and 
that the said sum would fall to the account of the department. I will not ask 
what is a million amid a budget of a thousand millions, and what is a million 
portioned out among the eighty-six counties ; I know that the resources of 
France are great: her wants are likewise immense. But I will say, that the 
country should consider no sacrifice too costly to secure a service so important 
as that of popular instruction; and that it ought not, in this respect, to be be- 
hind any civilized nation. 

The monthly fee, which, according to the fourteenth article, ought to be col- 
lected by tax-gatherers in the ordinary form, is the principal source of the 
teachers' income ; but the law has left tlie fixing of it too much to the arbitrary 
inclination of the municipal councils. An additional paragraph inserted, upon 
the proposal of M. Antoine Passy, in the third article of the law of receipts, 
1841, submits this fee and the number of gratuitous pupils to the appioval of 
the prefects, who, on the advice of the district committees, may fix a minimum 
rate for tlie monthly fee, and a maximum one for the number of gratuitous ad- 
missions. The faithful execution of this legislative enactment would be a great 
benefit: let me hope, that in the next report of the minister, the lot of teachers 
shall appear every where ameliorated by its means. We must not believe, 
however, that it will be so productive as to exempt the legislature from raising 
the minimum fixed salary to three hundred francs. 

The law has, at the same time, wished to guarantee the future of teachers. 
Two methods presented themselves for this object. To deduct from their fixed 
salaiyfiv^e per cent., as is done with the fimctionaries of the University, and thus 
to acquire for them a right to a retiring pension, or to establish simply a savings' 
or provideut-box, in every respect like the ordinary ones; with this difference, 
that the deposits should be obligatory, and that they could not be withdrawn 
but at the retiring or death of the depositors. The first of these two systems 
has the disadvantage — in case of the more or less premature death of a teacher 
— of depriving hisfamily of the amount deducted from his salary in favor of 
the surviving teachers. The second system, on the contrary, that of savings'- . 
boxes, makes them run no chance of risk ; having reached the end of their 
career, the product of their economy is restored either to themselves when they 
retire, or to their families, should they die in the discharge of their duties. 

It is this last system which the law has sanctioned by establishing sav- 
ings'-boxes, formed by the annual deduction of a twentieth fiom the fixed salary 
of each parish teacher. This system has been found fault with, for producing 
but a poor resource for a deserving teacher and his family. Indeed, the deduc- 
tion of a twentieth from a fixed salary of two hundred francs will produce, of 
capital and interest, at the end often years, only a reserve of one hundred and 
twenty francs, five centines ; at the end of fifteen years, only a reserve of two 
hundred francs, fifteen centines ; at the end of twenty years, it will produce 
about three hundred francs ; at the end of twenty-five years, a little more than 
four hundred francs; at the end of thirty years, about five bundled Irancs ; 
and forty years' service are necessary to save, in thie manner, a thousand 
francs. The same deduction made upon a fixed salary of three hundred 
francs will produce one hundred and eighty francs, at the end of ten years ; 
four hundred and fifty francs, at the end of twenty years; eight hundred 
and forty francs, at the end of thirty years; and about one thousand four 
hundred' and twenty-five francs, after forty years' service. A deduction of 
twenty francs per annum would amount, in ten years, to two hundred and Ibrty 
Irancs; in twenty years, to about six hundred francs; in thirty years, to about 
one thousand oiie hundred and twenty francs; at the end of forty years, one 
thousand nine hundred francs. 

We see that, in supposing each teacher to deposit twenty francs a year, this 
system would still leave much scope for improvement; since, after twenty or 
forty years' hard labor, it guarantees the teacher only from fifty to one hundred 
francs of revenue. 

To render these saving-boxes of great importance, it Avonld be necessary, in 
my opinion, to make the deduction of a twentieth, not only from their Jixcd 
salary, but likewise from the casual one, from the monthly fee ; a thing easily 
done, as this fee must be collected by the ordinary tax-gatherers. 

A mixed system would perhaps be preferable— a system that would unite, as 



MEANS OF IMPROVING TEACHERS' CONDITION. 247 

much as possible, the advantage of savings'-boxes and of deductions made from 
the salaries, to constitute a fund for retiring pensions. For this purpose, it 
would be necessary to establish in each chief city, a box, which should be both 
for savings and deductions, to which the teachers, the districts, and the counties 
should contribute, and which might receive gifts and legacies. I shall leave to 
more skillful financiers, the task of developing this idea, and of showing how it 
might be executed; I limit myself to laying its foundation. Let me suppose a 
county composed of five hundred districts, and reckoning six hundred and fifty 
public teachers : this is almost the condition of the Lower Rhine. Let me sup- 
pose that this county consents to disburse per annum into the schools'-box, the 
sum of five thousand francs; that, on their part, the five hundred districts pay 
into it, annually, at an average, ten francs, which is one thousand francs — in 
fine, that a deduction of fifteen francs is made from the salaries of the six hun- 
dred and fifty teachers, which makes annually seven thousand seven hundred 
and fifty francs; let me suppose farther, that all these payments amount to- 
gether to twenty thousand francs per annum, and we will have, at the end of 
ten years, without counting interest, or probable gifts and legacies, a sum of 
two hundred thousand francs; and, after twenty years, four hundred thousand 
francs; a capital which, placed at four per cent., would produce sixteen thou- 
sand francs of interest. This interest would be divided, according to an under- 
stood ratio, between the deserving and infirm teachers, and the widows and or- 
phans of teachers deceased. To have a right to a retiring pension, it should be 
necessary to give proofs of infirmity, or of at least thirty years' service. Widows 
would lose their claims on remarrying; and the children would qease to receive 
their portion at twenty-one years of age. It should be understood that the dis- 
tricts, small in number, which themselves might engage to provide retiring 
pensions to deserving teachers, should be at liberty to do so, and be exempted 
from contributing to the county-box. 

This box — which should, especially and essentially, be a fund for pensions — 
would be a savings'-box only for such teachers as have been obliged, from bad 
conduct, to resign their functions, or who voluntarily give them up, and with- 
out being unwell, before having served thirty )'ears. The amount only of what 
they had paid in, should, without interest, be restored to them. The same 
should be done with such as leave for situations elsewhere ; their disbursements 
should be transmitted to the box of the county to which they go. 

Every one would gain by realizing this scheme : there would be a loss sus- 
tained only by such as abandoned their calling, or by children become majors 
at the death of their fathers. The enactment, again, might, according to cir- 
cumstances, stipulate for some succor to the latter, and even in favor of the 
children of destitute teachers. But to render such a box truly productive, the 
concurrence of the counties and districts is indispensable. We might hope, 
likewise, that many friends of popular education would assist it, especially at 
the commencement. After twenty or twenty-five years, the box would subsist 
of itself, and without any other fresh contributions, save of those concerned. 

In short, what is necessary to render the condition of the teachers comforta- 
ble, is, in the first place, a convenient dwelling-house, with a garden in the 
rural districts; then a fixed salary of at least 300 francs, with a casual salary 
proportioned to the number of scholars, and resulting from a monthly fee, fixed 
by the municipal councils, subject to the approval of his prefects, and collected 
by the tax-gatherers; finally, a county-box for retiring pensions, and for aid to 
the widows and orphans, supplied by the concurrence of the counties, the dis- 
tricts, and the teachers. Encouragements, premiums adjudged by the counties 
to the most deserving, and succor granted to the most necessitous districts, 
would usefully complete this system. 

The medals which at our anniversaries are distributed every year can have 
no real value until their recipients are beyond the reach of want. Honorary 
distinctions add, besides, to the consideration of such as are the objects of 
them; and they contribute more to the interests of the body to which they be- 
long, than to those of the men who have been decorated by them. It would, 
therefore, be very useful, that, from time to time, this bullion recompense, to 
which M. Guizot refers in his beautiful circular, attest to the most experienced 
and devoted teacher that the government watches over their services and knows 
how to honor them. 



NORMAL SCHOOL 



THE FRERES CHRETIENS, OR CHRISTIAN BROTHERS, AT PARIS. 

The following sketch is taken from Kay's " Education of the Poor in 
England and Europe,^'' published by J. Hatchard and Son, London, 1846. 

"The Freres are a society of men devoted entirely and exclusively to 
the education of the poor. They take the vow of celibacy, renounce all 
the pleasures of society and relationship, enter into the brotherhood, and 
retain only two objects in life, — their own spiritual advancement and the 
education of the people. But before a young man can be received into 
the society, he is required to pass an intermediate period of education and 
trial, during which he is denied all the ordinary pleasures of life, is ac- 
customed to the humblest and most servile occupations, and receives an 
excellent and most liberal education. During this period, which lasts 
three years, he is carefully instructed in the jirinciples of the Roman 
Catholic religion, in the sciences, in the French and Latin languages, in 
history, geography, arithmetic, writing, &c., and at the same time he is 
required to perform the most humble household duties. The Freres and 
the young men who are passing through their first novitiate, manage in 
turn all the household duties, as the cooldng, the preparation of the meals, 
and all the ordinary duties of domestic servants; whilst their simple and 
perfectly plain costume, their separation from the world and fi-om their 
iViends, who are only permitted to visit them at long intervals, accustom 
them to the arduous and self-denying life they are called upon afterward 
to lead in the primary schools. 

By these means they form a character admirably fitted for the impor- 
tant office of a schoolmaster. 

The Freres never leave the walls of one of their houses except in com- 
pany. One Frere is not permitted to travel without being accompanied 
by another; and when a department or commune requires their services 
in a primary school, three are sent out, one of whom manages their do- 
mestic concerns, whilst the other two conduct the school classes. If, how- 
ever, there is in any town more than one school conducted by Freres, 
they all live together under the superintendence of an elder Frere, who is 
styled director. 

If at the end of the first novitiate the young man is still willing and 
desirous of entering the brotherhood, he is admitted by gradual advance- 
ment and preparation into the bosom of the society. He is then at the 
disposition of the principal of the order, who sends him, in company with 
two brothers, to some district which has demanded a master from them. 

What remains of their salaries after defraying the expenses of their 
frugal table, is returned to the treasury of the society, by which it is ex- 
pended in the printing of their school-books, in the various expenses of 
their central establishment, and in works of charity. 

Before a Frere is allowed to conduct a primary school, he is obliged to 
obtain, in Uke manner as the other teachers, a brevet de capacite ; gov- 
ernment demanding in all cases assurance of the secular education of the 
teachers, and of the character of the instruction given by them in their 
schools. All their schools are of course open as well to the inspectors of 
government, who visit, examine, and report upon them, as to their own, 
who strictly examine the conduct and progress of the Freres in their dif- 
ferent schools, and report to the principal. 



250 NORMAL SCHOOL OF THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS. 

The following table will show the number of schools conducted by 
Freres in 1844, and the number of children educated in them : — 

No. of Schools. No. of Children. 

France, . . . 658 . . , 169,501 

Belgium, ... 41 ... 9,535 

Savoy, ... 28 . . . 5,110 

Piedmont, ... 30 ... 6,490 

Pontifical' States, . 20 . . . 4,199 

Canada, ... 6 ... 1,840 

Turkey, ... 2 . . . 580 

Switzerland, ... 2 ... 444 



Total, . . 787 ... 197,699 

The education given in their schools is very liberal and the books used 
very good. The Freres consider that if they neglect todevelope the intel- 
lect of their pupils, they can not advance their religious education satisfac- 
torily ; they consequently spare no pains to attain the former develop- 
ment, in order that the latter, which is the great end of their teaching and 
of all instruction whatsoever, may not be retarded. 

The following are among the regulations of the Society : 

1. The Institution des Freres des Ecoles Chretiennes is a society which pro- 
fesses to conduct schools gratuitously. The design of this institution is to give 
a Christian education to children. With this object in view, the Freres conduct 
.schools where children may be placed under the management of Hsasters from 
morning until evening, so that the masters may be able to teach them to live 
honestly and uprightly, by instructing them in the principles of our holy reli- 
gion, by teaching them Christian precepts, and by giving them suitable and 
sufficient instruction. 

2. The spirit of the institution is a spirit of faith which ought to encourage its 
members to attribute all to God, to act as continually in the sight of God, and in 
perfect conformity to His orders and His will. The members of this associa- 
tion should be filled with an ardent zeal for the instruction of children, for their 
preservation in innocence and the fear of God, and for their entire separation 
from sin. 

3. The institution is directed hy asuperiar, who is nominated for life. He has 
two assistants, who compose his council, and aid him in governing the society. 
These assistants live in the same house with him, assist at his councils, and 
render him aid whenever necessary. 

4. The superior is elected by ballot by the directors assembled at the principal 
houses ; the two assistants are chosen in the same manner, and these latter hold 
ofiice ten years, and can then be re-elected. 

5. The superior may be deposed, but only by a general chapter, and for grave 
causes. 

6. This chapter is composed of thirty of the oldest Freres, or directors of the 
principal houses, who assemble by right once every ten years, and whenever it 
isdeemed necessary to convoke an extraordinary meeting. 

7. The private houses are governed by Freres-directors, who are appointed for 
three years, unless it appears advisable to the superior and his assistants to 
name a shorter period, or to recall them before the end of it. 

8. The superior names the visitors. They are appointed for three years, and 
make a round of visits once every year. They require of the directors an ac- 
count of their receipts and expenses, and as soon as their visits are completed, 
they present a report to their superior of the necessary changes and corrections 
to be made by him. 

9. No Frere can take priest's orders, or pretend to any ecclesiastical office, 
neither can he wear a surplice or serve in the churches, except at daily mass; 
but they confine themselves to their vocation, and live in silence, in retreat, and 
in entire devotion to their duties. 

10. They are bound to the institution by three simple religious vows, which 
are taken at first for only three years, as well as by a vow of perseverance and 
a renouncement of any recompense for the instruction they give. These vows 
can only be annulled after dispensation granted by the Pope. 



NORMAL SCHOOL OF THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS. 251 

11. They are not admitted to take the vows until they have been at least two 
years in the institution, and until they have passed one year in the novitiate 
and one year in the school. 

12. They are only admitted after a severe examination, and then only by a 
majority of the votes of the Freres of the house where they have passed their 
novitiate. 

13. There are two novitiates, one where they admit young men between 13 
and 16 years of age, the other for older men. But all young men who are ad- 
mitted below the age of 25 renew their vows every year till they attain that age. 

14. They banish from the society every Frere who conducts himself vmbe- 
comingly. But this is only done for grave offenses, and by a majority of votes 
at a general chapter. 

15. The same regulation is observed when a Frere desires to leave the soci- 
ety and to obtain a dispensation from his vows. 

16. The Freres do not establish themselves in the dioceses without the con- 
sent of the bishops, and they acknowledge their authority as their spiritual gov- 
ernment, and that of the magistrates as their civil government. 

19. The Freres shall instruct their pupils after the method prescribed to them 
bv the institution. 
' 20. They shall teach their scholars to read French and Latin, and to write. 

21. They shall teach them also orthography, and arithmetic, the matins and 
vespers, le Paler, I'Ave Maria, le Credo et le Conflieor, and the French trans- 
lations of these prayers, the Commandments of God and of the Church, the 
responses of the holy mass, the Catechism, the duties of a Christian, and the 
maxims and precepts that our Lord has left us in the holy Testament. 

22. They shall teach the Catechism half an hour daily. 

27. The Freres shall not receive from the scholars, or their parents, either 
money or any other present, at anytime. 

30. They shall exhibit an equal affection for all their poor scholars, and mora 
for the poor than for the rich; because the object of the in.'stilution is the in- 
struction of the poor. 

31. They shall endeavor to give their pupils, by their conduct and manners, 
a continual example of modesty, and of all the other virtues which they ought 
to be taught, and which they ought to practise. 

37. The Freres shall take the greatest care that they very rarely punish their 
children, as thev ought to he persuaded that, by refraining as much as possible 
from punishment, they will best succeed in properly conducting a school, and 
in establishing order in it. 

38. When punishment shall have become absolutely necessary, they shall 
take the greatest care to punish with the greatest moderation and presence ot 
mind, and never to do it under the influence of a hasty movement, or when they 
feel irritated. 

39. They shall watch over themselves that they never exhibit the least anger 
or impatience, either in their corrections, or in any of their words or actions; 
as they ought to be convinced, that if they do not take these precautions the 
schola'rs will not profit from their correction, (and the Freres never ought to 
correct except with the object of benefiting their children) and God will not 
give the correction his blessing. 

40. They shall not at any time give to their scholars any injurious epithet or 
insulting name. 

41. They shall also take the greatest care not to strike their scholars with 
hand, foot, or stick, nor to push them rudely. 

42. They shall take great care not to pull their ears, their hair, or their noses, 
nor to fling any thing at them; these kinds of corrections ought not to be prac- 
tised by the Freres, as they are very indecent and opposed to charity and Chris- 
tian kindness. 

43. They shall not correct their scholars during prayers, or at the time of 
catechising, except when they cannot defer the correction. 

They shall not use corporal punishment, except when every other means of 
correction has failed to produce the right effect. 

58. The Frere-director shall be inspector over all the schools in his town ; 
and when more than one inspector is necessary for one house of Freres, the 
other inspector shall report to the Frere-director twice a week on the conduct of 
each Frere, on the condition of his class, and on the progress of his scholars. 



252 NORMAL SCHOOL OF THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS. 

The following remarks on the Training School of this Brotherhood of 
Teachers are taken from •' the Second Report of J. P. Kay Shuttleworth, 
on the Schools for the Training of Parochial Schoolmasters at Batter- 
sea." 

We had frequently visited the schools of the Brothers of the Christian Doc- 
trine in France, and had spent much time in the examination of their Ecoles- 
mtres, or Mother-School. Our attention was attracted to these schools by the 
genrle manners and simple habits which distinguished the Freies; by their 
sympathy for children, and the religious feeling which pervaded their element- 
ary schools. Their schools are certainly deficient in some of the niceties of 
organization and method ; and there are subjects on which the instruction might 
be more complete and exact; but each master was, as it were, a parent to the 
children around him. The school resembled a harmonious family. 

The self-denying industry of these pious men was remaikable. The habits 
of their order v/ould be deemed severe in this country. In the Mother School 
(where they all reside,) they rise at four. After piivate meditation, iheir pub- 
lic devotions in the chapel occupy the early hours of the morning. The do- 
mestic drudgery of the household succeeds. They breakfast at seven, and are 
in the schools of the great cities of France at nine. When the routine of daily 
school-keeping is at an end, after a short interval for refreshment and exercise, 
they open their evening schools where hundreds of the adult population receive 
instruction, not merely in reading, wiiting, and the simplest elements of num- 
bers, but in singing, drawing, geography ; the mensuration of planes and solids; 
the history of 1^'rance, and in religion. Their evening schools do not close till 
ten. The public expenditure on account of their services is one-third the usual 
remuneration of an elementary schoolmaster in France, and they devote their 
lives, constrained by the influence of a religious feeling, under a rule of celibacy, 
but without a vow, to the education of the poor. 

The unquestionable self-denial of sr.ch a life; the attachment of the children, 
*nd of the adult pupils to their instructors, together wiih the constant sense of 
the all-subduing presence of Christian principle, rendered the means adopted 
by the Christian Brothers, for the training of their novices, a matter of much 
interest and inquiry. 

The Mother School differs in most important respects from a Normal School, 
but the extentof this difference is not at first sight apparent, and is one of those 
results of our experience which we wish to submit. 

The Mother School is an establishment comprising arrangements for the in- 
struction and training of novices ; for the residence of the brothers, Avho are 
engaged in the active performance of the dulies of their order, as masters of 
elementary day and evening schools ; and it affords an asylum, into which they 
gradually retire from the fatigues and cares of their public labors, as age ap- 
proaches, or infirmities accumulate, to spend the period of sickness or decrepi- 
tude in the tranquillity of the household provided for them, and amidst the 
consolations of their brethren. The brothers constitute a family, performing 
every domestic service, ministering to the sick and infirm, and assembling for 
devotion daily in their chapel. 

Their novices enter about the ages of twelve or fourteen. They at once as- 
sume the dress of the order, and enter upon the self denying routine of the house- 
hold. The first years of their novitiate are of course devoted to such elementary 
instruction as is necessary to prepare them for their future duties as teachers 
of the poor. Their habits are formed, not only in the course of this instruction, 
but by joining the religious exercises; performing the household duties; and 
enjoying the benefit of constant intercourse with the elder brethren of the Mother 
School, who are at once their instructors and friends. In this life of seclusion, 
the superior of the Mother School has opportimities of observing and ascertaining 
the minutest traits of character, which indicate their comparative qualifications 
for the future labors of the order; nor is this vigilance relaxed, but rather increas- 
ed, when they first quit the private studies of the Mother School, to be gradu- 
ally initiated in their public labors as instructors of the people. 

Such of the novices as are found not to possess the requisite qualifications, 
especially as respects the moral constitution necessary for the duties of their 
order, are permitted to leave the Mother School to enter upon other pursuits. 



NORMAL SCHOOL OF THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS. 253 

During the period of the novitiate, such instances are not rare, but we have 
reason to believe, that they seldom occur after the brother has acquired ma- 
turity. 

As their education in the Mother School proceeds, the period devoted every 
day to their public labors in the elementary schools is enlarged ; and they thus, 
under the eye of elder brethren, assisted by their example and precepts, gradu- 
ally emerge from the privacy of their novitiate to their public duties. 

In all this there is not much that differs from the life of a young pupil in a 
Normal School ; but, at this point, the resemblance ceases, and a great diver- 
gence occurs. 

The brother, whose novitiate is at an end, continues a member of the house- 
hold of the Mother School. He has only advanced to a higher rank. He is sui- 
rounded by the same mfluences. The daily routine which formed his domestic 
and religious habits continues. His mind is fed, and his purposes are strength- 
ened by the conversation and examples of his brethren, and his conduct is under 
the paternal eye of his superior. Under such circumstances, personal identity 
is almost absorbed in the corporate life by which he is sui rounded. The strength 
of the order supports his weakness : the spirit of the order is the pervading 
principle of his life : he thinks, feels, and acts, by an unconscious inspiration 
from every thing by which he is surrounded, in a calm atmosphere of devotion 
and religious labor. All is prescribed ; and a pious submission, a humble faith, 
a patient zeal, and a self-denying activity are his highest duties. 

Contrast his condition with that of a young man leaving a Normal School at 
the age of eighteen or nineteen, after three or four years of comparative seclu- 
sion, under a regimen closely resembling that of the Mother School. At this 
age. it is necessary that he should be put in charge of an elementary school, in 
order that he may earn an independence. 

The most favorable situation in which he can be placed, because remote from 
the grosser forms of temptation, and thereibre least in contrast with his previous 
position, is the charge of a rural school. For the tranquil and eventless life of 
the master of a rural school, such a training is not an imfit preparation. His 
resources are not taxed by the necessity for inventing new means to meet the 
novel combinations which arise in a more active stale of society. His energy 
is equal to the task of instructing the submissive and tractable, though often 
dull children of the peasantry, and the gentle manners and quiet demeanor, 
which are the uniform results of his previous education, are in harmony with 
the passionless life of the seclusion into which he is plunged. His knowledge 
and his skill in method are abundantly superior to the necessities of his posi- 
tion, and the unambitious sense of duty which he displays attracts the confidence 
and wins the regard of the clergyman of the parish and of his intelligent neigh- 
bors. For such a life, we have found even the young pupils whom we intro- 
duced into the training schools at their foundation well fitted, and we have pre- 
ferred to settle them, as far as we could, on the estates of our personal friends, 
where we are assured they have succeeded. Those only who have entered the 
Normal School at adult age, have been capable of successfully contending with 
the greater difficulties of town schools. 

But we are also led by our experience to say, that such a novitiate does not 
prepare a youth of tender age to encounter the responsibilities of a large town 
or village school, in a manufacturing or mining district. Such a position is in 
the most painful contrast with his previous training. He exchanges the com- 
parative seclusion of his residence in the Normal School for the difficult position 
of a public instructor, on whom many jealous eyes are fixed. For the first time 
he is alone in his profession ; unaided by the example of his masters ; not stim- 
ulated by emulation with his fellows; removed from the vigilant eye of the 
Principal of the school; separated from the'powerfui influences of that corpo- 
rate spirit, which impelled his previous career, yet placed amidst difficulties, 
perplexing even to the most mature experience, and required to tax his inven- 
tion to meet new circumstances, before he has acquired confidence in the un- 
sustained exercise of his recently developed powers. He has left the training 
school for the rude contact of a coarse, selfish, and immoral populace, whose 
gross appetites and manners render the narrow streets in his neighborhood 
scenes of impurity. He is at once brought face to face with an ignorant and 
■corrupt multitude, to whose children he is to prove a leader and guide. 

His difficulties are formidable. His thoughts are fixed on the deformity of 



254 NORMAL SCHOOL OF THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS. 

this monstrous condition of society. It is something to have this sense of the 
extremity of the evil, but to confront it, that conviction should become the spur 
to persevering exertion. We have witnessed this failure, and we conceive that 
such ditficLilties can only be successfully encountered by masters of maturer 
age and experience. 

The situation of the novice of a Mother School, founded in the centre of a great 
manufacturing city, is in direct contrast with that of the young student, ex- 
changing his secluded training in a Normal School for the unaided charge of a 
great town school. 

If such a Mother School were founded in the midst of one of our largest 
commercial towns, imder the charge of a Principal of elevated character and 
acquirements ; if he had assembled around him devoted and humble men, ready 
to spend their lives in reclaiming the surrounding population by the foundation 
and management of schools for the poor ; and into this society a youth v/ere 
introduced at a tender age, instructed, trained, and reared in the habits and du- 
ties of his profession ; gradually brought into contact with the actual evil, to 
the healing of which his life was to be devoted; never abandoned to his own 
comparatively feeble resources, but always feeling himself the missionary of a 
body able to protect, ready to console, and willing to assist and instruct him : 
in such a situation, his feebleness would be sustained by the strength of a corpo- 
ration animated with the vitality of Christian principle. 

We are far from recommending the establishment of such a school, to the suc- 
cess of which we think we perceive insurmountable obstacles in this country. 
The only form in which a similar machinery could exist in England is that of a 
Town Normal School, in which all the apprentices or pupil teachers of the 
several elementary schools might lodge, and where, under the superintendence 
of a Principal, their doinestic and religious habits might be formed. The mas- 
ters of the elementary schools might be associates of the Normal School, and 
conduct the instruction of the pupil teachers, in the evening or early in the 
morning, when free from the duties of their schools. The whole body of mas- 
ters would thus form a society, with the Principal at their head, actively em- 
ployed in the practical daily duties of managing and instructing schools, and 
also by their connection with the Town Normal School, keeping in view and 
contributing to promote the general interests of elementary education, by rear- 
ing a body of assistant masters. If a good library were collected in this central 
institution, and lectures from time to lime delivered on appropriate subjects to 
the whole body of masters and assistants, or, which would be better, if an upper 
school were founded, which might be attended by the masters and most advan- 
ced assistants, every improvement in method would thus be rapidly diffused 
through the elementary schools of towns. 

The following biographical sketch of the founder of this truly Christian 

society cannot but interest our readers. 

The venerable J. B. de la Salle, founder of the Christian Schools, was born 
at Rheims, on the 30lh of April, 1G51, of parents who were as exalted by their 
virtue as by the respectability of their station. Although the eldest son, he 
consecrated himself at an early age to the service of the altar, and was made 
canon of Rheims at seventeen, and ordained priest in 1671. Through a motive 
of zeal, the Abbe de la Salle exchanged his canonry for a parish; the arch- 
bishop, however, refused to ratify the proceeding, being unwilling that the 
chapter of his cathedral should be deprived of a canon of such merit and exem- 
plary piety. Animated with an ardent zeal ibr the salvation of souls, he attach- 
ed himself to the instruction of the children of the common people. In June, 
1681, he commenced with a few disciples the Institute since knoM'n as the 
Brothers of the Christian Schools, but which has extended itself all over 
France, and in other parts of Europe. The Abbe de la Salle established 
schools and taught himself at Rheims, Paris, Marseilles, and Grenoble, and 
after forty years of labor in the cause of instruction, he died on Good Friday, 
April 17, 1719, at Rouen, where he had established the chief house of his Insti- 
tute. He left twentjf-two houses, which continued to increase until the Revo- 
lution, when they numbered one hundred and twenty-one. The order was re- 
established in France by an imperial decree, March 17, 1803, and has been 
approved by all succeeding governments. 



PRIMARY ]^ORMAL SCHOOLS 

OF VERSAILLES AND DIJON. 



The Primary Normal School of Versailles is for the Department of Seine 
and Oise. It comprises within its ample premises* several establishments 
for the instruction and practice of teachers. The school itself contains 
eig'hty pupils under regular instruction throughout the year, and furnishes a 
two months' course to adult schoolmasters. The establishments for practice 
begin with the infant school, and rise through the primary to the grade of 
primary superior. Of the elementary schools, one atfords the young teach- 
ers an example of the method of mutual, and another of simultaneous in- 
struction. The primary superior school had been recently established, at 
the date of my visit, in 1837. There is, besides, an evening department for 
the elementary instruction of adults, taught by the pupils of the Normal 
School, and also a school of design, which is established here rather for 
convenience than as properly biilonging to the range of the institution. 

The whole establishment is under the immediate control of a director 
(Mr. Le Brun), subject to the authority of a committee, and of the univer- 
sity, the inspectors of which make regular visits. The committee inspect 
the school by sub-committees once a month, visiting the recitation-rooms of 
the professors without giving special notice — a plan much to be preferred to 
that of stated visits. If a member of a committee desires questions to be 
put upon any particular points, he calls upon the professor to extend his 
examination, or asks questions himself. The director examines the classes 
frequently, or is present at the lessons. There are eight professors for the 
various courses, and two " repeaters" (repetiteurs), these latter superintend- 
ing the pupils when not with the professors, and giving them assistance if 
required. The repeaters are responsible for the execution of the order of 
the day in the institution, and for the police, and one of them sleeps in each 
of the two dormitories. Some of the teachers in the Normal School also 
give instruction in tlie model schools, and have charge of the pupils while 
engaged in the practical exercises. The domestic economy is under the 
charge of the director, but he is allowed an assistant, who actually dis- 
charges the duty of superintendence, and who has brought this department 
into most excellent order.f 

There are a certain number of gr.ituitous places, to which pupils are ad- 
mitted by competition, those found best prepared at the examination for 
admission having the preference. Pay pupils are also received at a very 
moderate rate,J but are exactly on the same footing, in reference to the 
duties of the institution, with the former. Young men who wish to com- 
pete for a place, and are not sufHciently prepared, may enter as pay pupils, 
and thus receive instruction directly applicable to their object. The age of 
admission is, by rule, between sixteen and twenty-one, but the former limit 
is considered too early for profitable entrance. The qualifications for ad- 
mission consist in a thorough knowledge of the subjects taught in the ele- 
mentary schools. 

The period of instruction is two years. The first year is devoted to the 

* Used under a former dynasty to accommodate the hounds of Charles X. 
i Durin? the first year of the institution, the fare of each student cost fifty-nine centimes (twelve 
esnts) per day. They had meat twice a day, except on the fa«ts of the Churcti. 
t Five hundred francs, or about one hundred dollars, per aaaum. 



256 



NORMAL SCHOOL OF VERSAILLES. 



revision of elementary studies, and the second to an extension of them, and 
to theoretical and practical instruction in the science and art of teaching. 
The subjects of revision or instruction are, reading, writing, linear drawing, 
geography, history, the drawing of maps, morals and religion, vocal music, 
arithmetic, elementary physics, terraculture, and pedagogy. 

The religious instruction is given by an ecclesiastic, who is almoner to the 
school ; it includes lessons on the doctrines and history of the church, given 
twice per week. Protestants are not required to attend these lessons, but 
receive instruction out of the institution from a minister of their own con- 
fession. 

Physical education is conducted by means of exercises in gymnastics, by 
walks, and the practice of gardening. In summer the pupils bathe once a 
week. The gymnastic exercises are taught by the more expert pupils to 
the scholars of the model schools, and appear to have taken well among 
them. 

The pupils study in a room common to all, and the degree of attention 
which they pay, and their conduct, are marked, according to a uniform scale, 
by the superintending " repeater," and reported daily to the director. Once 
every month the professor examines these classes on the studies of the past 
month, and reports the standing. Marks are also given for great proficiency 
and attention, which are reported with the standing. These marks, and 
those of the examination, are summed up, and when they amount to a cer- 
tain number for the month, the pupil is entitled to a premium. The premi- 
ums consist of books uniformly bound, and accompanied by a certificate 
Report is made of these pupils to the minister of public instruction, and the 
record may serve them when desirous to secure a particular place. The 
director assembles the school to hear an account of these monthly reports, 
and makes such remarks as they may suggest. 

Besides the more usual school implements, this institution has a library, a 
small collection of physical and chemical apparatus, of technological speci- 
mens, already of considerable interest, and of models of agricultural imple- 
ments. There are also two gardens, one of which is laid out to serve the 
purposes of systematic instruction in horticulture, the other of which con- 
tains specimens of agricultural products, and a ground for gymnastic exer- 
cises. The pupils work by details of three at a time, under the direction of 
the gardener, in cultivating flowers, fruits, vegetables, &c. They have the 
use of a set of carpenters' and joiners' tools, with which they have fitted up 
their own library in a very creditable way.* In the second year they receive 
lectures on the science and art of teaching, and in turn give instruction in 
the schools, under the direction of the teachers. Their performances are 
subsequently criticised for their improvement. 

The order of the day in summer is as follows : 

The pupils rise at five, wash, make up their beds, and clean their dormi- 
tories, in two divisions, which alternate ; meet in the study-hall at half past 
five for prayers, breakfast, engage in studies or recitation until one ; dine 
and have recreation until two ; study or recite until four ; have exercises or 
recreation, sup, study, and engage in religious reading and prayers ; and 
retire at ten, except in special cases. Before meals there is a grace said, and 
during meals one of the pupils reads aloud. 

In distributing the time devoted to study and recitation, an hour of study 
is made to precede a lesson, when the latter requires specific preparation ; 
when, on the contrary, the lesson requires after-reflection to fix its principles, 
or consists of a lecture, of which the notes are to be written out, the study 
hour follows the lesson. The branches of a mechanical nature are inter- 

• A carpenter who came to attend the evening classes was found by the director so intellis^ent, 
that he advised him to prepare for the school. The young man succeeded in entering, at the 
annual competition, and subsequently, on leaving the school, received one of the best appoint- 
ments of his year as a teacher. 



NORMAL SCHOOL OF DIJON. 257 

spersed with the intellectual. The students of the second year are em- 
ployed, in turn, in teaching, and are relieved from other duties during the 
hours devoted to the schools of practice. 

On Sunday, after the morning service, the pupils are free to leave the 
walls of the institution. The same is the case on Thursday afternoon. The 
director has found, however, bad results from these indiscriminate leaves of 
absence. 

The discipline of the school is mild, the age and objects of the pupils 
being such that the use of coercive means is seldom required. The first 
step is admonition by a " repeater" or professor, the next a private admo- 
nition by the director. If these means prove ineffectual, dismission follows. 
The director has great influence, from his personal character, and from the 
fact that his recommendation can secure a good place* to the pupil imme- 
diately on leaving the school. The mode of life in the institution is very 
simple. The pupils are neatly but roughly dressed, and perform most of the 
services of police for themselves. The dormitories are very neat. The 
bedsteads are of wrought-iron, corded at the bottom. During the night the 
clothes are deposited in small boxes near the beds. The extra articles of 
clothing are in a common room. Cleanliness of dress and person are care- 
fully enjoined. The fare is plain, but good, and the arrangements connected 
with the table unexceptionable. There is an infirmary attached to the 
school, which is, however, but rarely used. 

The schools for practice do not require special description, as their organ- 
ization will be sufficiently understood from what has already been said of 
primary schools, and they have not been long enough in operation to acquire 
the improved form which, I cannot doubt, they will receive under the present 
able director of the Normal School. 

The Primary Normal School at Dijon, for the Department of Cote d'Or, 
in its general organization, is the same as that at Versailles. It differs, how- 
ever, in one most important particular, which involves other differences of 
detail. All the instruction, except of religion and music, as well as the su- 
perintendence, is under the charge of the director and a single assistant, 
who, by the aid of the pupils, carry on the schools of practice, as well as the 
courses of the Normal School. This arrangement limits the amount of 
instruction, and interferes very materially with the arrangement of the stud- 
ies. The school is conducted, however, with an excellent spirit. An idea 
of the plan will be obtained from the order of the day, wliich also contains 
an outline of the course of instruction. 

From five to six A. M., the pupils say their prayers, wash, &c. From six 
to seven the higher division has a lesson in French grammar. The lower 
receives a lesson in geography or history alternately. From seven to eight, 
the higher division has a lesson in geography or history alternately ; the 
lower division in arithmetic. From eight to half past eight, breakfast and 
recreation. From half past eight until eleven, a portion of the higher di- 
vision is employed in the primary schools of practice, and the others are 
engaged in study. From eleven until one, writing and linear drawing for 
both divisions. From one until two, dinner and recreation. From two until 
half past four, as from half past eight to eleven. Recreation until five. 
From five to six, instruction in instrumental or vocal music for each division 
alternately. From six to seven, the higher division has a lesson in geome- 
try, or its applications ; the lower division in French gTammar. From seven 
until a quarter before eight, supper and recreation. From this time until 
nine, the higher division has a lesson in physical science or natural history, 
mechanics, agriculture, and rural economy, or book-keeping ; the lower di- 

* The best places, in point of emolument, are worth from fifteen to eighteen hundred francs 
(about$300 to$360). 

17 



268 



NORMAL SCHOOL OF DIJON. 



vision in reading. The last quarter of an hour is occupied by both divisions 
in prayers, after which they retire. This order applies to all the days of the 
week. but Thursday, when, from eight to ten, the pupils receive moral and 
religious instruction ; from ten to eleven, instruction in the forms of simple, 
legal, and commercial writings ; and from two to four, engaged in the review 
of part of the week's studies. On the afternoon of Thursday the schools of 
practice are not in session. 

On Sunday, after the duties following their rising, the pupils are occupied 
in studying and revising some of the lessons of the week. From nine to 
ten o'clock, in religious reading, aloud. At ten they go to service in the 
parish chapel, attended by the director and his assistant. Receive moral 
and I'eligious instruction, on their return, until dinner-time. After dinner, 
attend the evening service, and then take a walk. In the evening, assemble 
for conversation on pedagogical subjects, and for prayers. 



NORMAL SCHOOL* 

FOR 

TEACHERS OF COLLEGES AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS, 

AT PARIS. 



The " Normal School," intended to furnish professors for colleges, was 
established in 1794, by the same convention which created the polytechnic 
school. The organization proposed by the law was upon a scale entirely 
beyond the wants to be supplied ; and, notwithstanding the exertions of its 
eminent professors, the school had but a temporary existence, and ill suc- 
cess, mainly from the unprepared state of the pupils who had entered it, and 
to whom the kind of instruction was entirely unadapted. There were thir- 
teen courses of lectures, and among the professors were Lagrange, Laplace, 
Haiiy, Monge, Berthollet, Volney, Bernardin St. Pierre, Sicard, and Laharpe. 
The school was suppressed by a decree of April, 1795, and its pupils dis- 
persed. After the reorganization of the university, in 1806, the expediency 
of reviving the normal school appears to have been felt, and it was reorgan- 
ized in 1808. The number of pupils provided for in the new plan was three 
hundred; but from 1810 to 1826 there were never more than fifty-eight 
actually in attendance. According to the plan of instruction, lectures were 
to be attended out of doors, and interrogations and study to take place within 
the school, under the charge of the elder pupils. The recitations of the 
pupils to each other were called conferences ; a name which is still pre- 
served, being applied to the lessons given by the teachers, who are called 
masters of conferences. The duration of the course of instruction was lim- 
ited at first to two years, but subsequently extended to three. The school 
was a second time suppressed, in 1822 ; and in 1826 an institution, termed 
a " preparatory school," was substituted for it, which in its turn was abol- 
ished, and the old normal school revived by a decree of the lieutenant-general 
of the kingdom, on the 6th of August, 1830. A report was made by M. 
Cousin, Secretary of the Council of Public Instruction, in October, 1830, 
the recommendations of which were adopted substantially. New regulations 
for the course of study, the general arrangements and discipline, have been 
gradually prepared, and the school has commenced a career of usefulness 
which it bids fair to prosecute with increasing success. 

The chief purpose of the normal school is to give its pupils ample oppor- 
tunities of preparation for the competition for places of adjuncts in the col- 
leges (cours d'agregation), and its arrangements are all subordinate to this 
object. In this competition, however, the pupils of the school meet on an 
equal footing, merely, with all other candidates. 

The officers, in 1837, were, the director, who did not reside at the school, 
nor take part in the instruction ; the director of studies, the resident head of 
the establishment; eight masters of conferences for the section of letters; 
six masters of eonferences, and one for the drawing department, for the sec- 
tion of sciences ; two preparers (preparateurs) ; a sub-director, charged with 
a general superintendence of the pupils, and two assistants, called superin- 
tending masters. The masters of conferences have, in general, equivalent 
duties to the professors in the colleges. In 183T there were eighty pupils 
in the school, of whom forty-nine were supported entirely by the funds al- 
lowed by the government, and eighteen had half their expenses defrayed. 

The normal school at present occupies a part of the buildings belonging 

* From Bache's Education in Europe. 



260 SECONDARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT PARIS. 

to the Royal College of Lpuis-le-Grand, and the college furnishes the food 
and clothing of the pupils by agreement with the school. This connection 
has advantages, and among them, that of enabling the pupils to have some 
practice in teaching ; but they are more than counterbalanced by disadvan- 
tages, and the friends of the school are earnest in their endeavors to procure 
a separate domicile for it. The accommodations for lodging, study, instruc- 
tion, and exercise, as far as the building and its site are concerned, are cer- 
tainly of a most limited kind. 

Admission. — The number of pupils who may be admitted is determined 
every year by the probable number required to fill the vacancies in second- 
ary instruction. The admissions arfe made by competition, and for the 
most successful competitors a limited number of bursaries (bourses) are 
established, divisible into half bursaries, which are distributed to those who 
require assistance. The candidates enter their names at the academy near- 
est to their residence, between the fifteenth of June and of July, every year. 
Each candidate deposits the following certificates, viz., of the date of birth, 
showing that he is over seventeen and under twenty-three years of age ; of 
having been vaccinated ; of moral conduct ; of having completed, or being 
about to complete, his studies, including philosophy, and, if he intends to 
become a teacher of science, a course of special mathematics and of phys- 
ics ; a declaration from his parent or guardian, if the candidate is a minor, 
that he will devote himself for ten years, from the period of admission, to 
public instruction. These lists are forwarded by the rectors of the several 
academies, with their remarks, to the council of public instruction, which 
returns, before the first of August, a list of those persons who may be ex- 
amined for admission. This examination is made in the several academies, 
with a view to select the most prominent candidates, whose cases are to be 
ultimately decided by competition at the school in Paris. It consists of 
compositions upon subjects which are the same for all the academies, and of 
interrogations and oral explanations. For the candidates, as future instruct- 
ors in letters, the written exercises are a dissertation, in French, on some 
points of philosophy, an essay in Latin, an essay in French, a Latin and 
Greek version, and Latin verses. The oral examinations turn upon the 
classical authors read in college, and upon the elements of philosophy, 
rhetoric, and history. The candidates in science have the same written ex- 
ercises in philosophy and in Latin versions, and in addition, must solve one 
or more questions in mathematics and physics. The oral examinations are 
upon subjects of mathematics, physics, and philosophy, taught in the philos- 
ophy class of the colleges. All the written exercises and notes of the oral 
examinations are forwarded to the minister of public instruction, and sub- 
mitted severally to a committee of letters and a committee of science, taken 
from among the masters of the normal school, the director being chairman 
of each committee. These committees decide whether the candidates are 
fit to be allowed to present themselves for examination at the school, and 
those who are deemed worthy, receive a notice to report themselves on or 
before the fifteenth of October. Previous to this competition the candidates 
are required to present their diploma of bachelor of letters or of sciences. 
The masters of the normal school are divided into two committees, one of 
letters and the other of science, for conducting these examinations, which 
are oral, and the result of which determines the admission or rejection of 
the candidate. On admission, the pupil makes an engagement to devote 
himself to public instruction for ten years. 

Inslruction. — The present arrangement of the courses of instruction can 
only be regarded as provisional^ improvements being gradually introduced, 
as observation shows their necessity. The principle declared by the direct- 
or, M. Cousin, to be that of the school in this respect, is Avorthy of all coia- 
mendation. " When," says M. Cousin, in his Report of 1835-6,* " experi- 
* Ecole Normale. Reglements, programmes, et rapports. Paris, 1837. 



SECONDARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT PARIS. 



261 



ence shows the necessity or utility of a measure which the fundamental 
regulations of the school have not provided for, it is by no means proposed 
at once to the royal council for adoption as an article of the regulations ; 
authority is asked to put it to the test of practice, and it is only when found 
repeatedly successful that it is deemed prudent to convert it into a regula- 
tion." A close observation of the merits and defects of the system is thus 
made to pave the way for judicious changes. 

The full course of the school, at present, occupies three years. The 
pupils are divided into two sections, that of letters and of science, which 
pursue separate courses. In the section of letters, the first year is devoted 
to a revision, and the second to an extension, of the higher courses of the 
colleges, and the third is especially employed in fitting the pupils to become 
professors. In fulfilling this object, however, no instruction in the science 
or art of teaching is given in the establishment, nor is it obligatory upon the 
pupils to teach, so that, as far as systematic practice goes, they derive no 
direct benefit from the school ; it is a privilege, however, which many enjoy, 
to be called to give lessons in some of the royal colleges, particularly in 
that with which the school is now connected by its locality. When the 
pupil intends to devote himself to teaching in the grammar classes of the 
colleges, or is found not to have the requisite ability for taking a high rank 
in the body of instructors, he passes at once from the first year's course to 
the third, and competes, accordingly, in the examination of adjuncts (agreges). 
The consequences of the low esteem in which the grammar studies are held 
have been much deplored by the present director of the school,* and a re- 
form in regard to them has been attempted, with partial success. • 

The courses are conducted by teachers called masters of conferences, who 
seldom lecture, but question the pupils upon the lessons which have been 
appointed for them to learn, give explanations, and are present while they 
interrogate each other, as a kind of practice in the art of teaching. In some 
cases, the students themselves act as masters of conferences. 

The course of letters oi the first year comprised, in 1836-7 ,f 

1. Greek language and literature, three lessons per week. 2. Latin and French 
literature, tliree lessons. 3. Ancient history and antiquities, three lessons. 4. A 
course of philosophy higher tlian that of the colleges, three lessons. 5. General 
physics, one lesson. Clieinistry, one lesson, the courses being introduced chietly 
to keep up the knowledge of these subjects. 6. German and English language, 
each one lesson. 

The conferences, or lessons on general physics, chemistry, and the modern 
languages, are by pupils who give instruction and explanations to their com- 
rades. 

At the end of the first year there are examinations, according to the result 
of which the student passes to the courses of the second year, or, in the 
case before stated, to those of the third year, or leaves the school. These 
examinations are conducted by inspectors-general of the university, named 
for the purpose by the minister. Pupils who have passed, may present 
themselves at the university as candidates for the degree of licentiate of let- 
ters. 

The second year's course of letters does not necessarily include any scien- 
tific studies. 

The courses of language and philosophy go into the history of these subjects. 
They consist of — 1. Lectures on the history of Greek literature, three lessons per 
week. 2. On the history of Eoman literature, two lessons. 3. On the history of 
French literature, one lesson. 4. English language, one lesson. 5. On the history 
of philosophy, two lessons. 6. Continuation of the historical course, two lessons. 
The recitations are accompanied by suitable written e.Kercises. 

* Rapport sur les travaux de l'6coIe normale pendant I'annee, 183.5-6. Par M. Cousin, 
t The distribution of subjects is taken from a manuscript kindly furnished to me by the direct- 
or of studies, M. Viguier ; it does not agree precisely with the plan marked out in the regulations. 



262 



SECONDARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT PARIS. 



At the end of the year the pupils are examined. Those who have not 
already obtained the degree of • licentiate of letters are now required to do 
so, or to leave the school. 

The examinations for this degree consist of compositions in French and Latin 
prose, on diiferent days. Latinverses and Greek themes. Explanations of selected 
passages from the second book of Herodotus, the speecli of Pericles in Thucydides, 
the Gorgias of Plato, the speech of Demosthenes against Leptines, the choruses of 
(Edipus at Colonos, the Hecuba of Euripides, the combat of Hercules and Amycus 
in Theocritus, the Hymns of Synesius, Cicero de Oratore and de legibus, the Ger- 
many of Tacitus, the Treatise of Seneca de beneficiis, the last two books of Quin- 
tilian's Ehetoric, the fifth book of Lucretius de natura rcrum, the first book of 
Horace's Epistles, the second book of Horace's Odes, the Troas of Seneca. 

These books are liable to be changed, from time to time, on notice being 
given. The candidate is expected to answer the questions on philosophy, 
literature, history, and philology, to which the reading of the author may 
give rise. 

In the tMrd year of letters, the courses are special, the divisions corre- 
sponding with the courses of the royal colleges, and consisting of gi-ammar, 
humanities, and rhetoric, history, and philosophy. Each pupil takes his 
place in one or other of these divisions, and is not required to follow the 
courses of the others. 

The lectures and recitations constituting the entire course of letters of the third 
year were, during the second half year of 1886-7 — 1. Latin language and grarnmar, 
three lessons. 2. Greek language, two lectures and one lesson., 8. Latin literar- 
ture, two lectures and one lesson. 4. Greek literature, two lectures and one lesson. 
5. Latin eloquence, two lectures. 6. Latin poetry, two lectures. 7. French litera- 
ture, one lesson. 8. History of the philosophy of the ancients, two lectures. 
9. Ancient geography, two lectures. 10. Philosophy, one lesson. The lectures 
alluded to are those attended by the pupils at the Sorbonne. 

The following were the courses of the different years in the section of 
science during the same term, the lectures being those of the faculty of 
sciences of the university. 

First year. 1. Astronomy, two lessons per week. 2. Descriptive Geometry, two 
lessons. S. Chemistry, two lectures, one lesson, and four hours of manipulation. 
4. Botany, one lesson. 5. Philosophy, two lessons, fi. German language, one 
lesson. '7. Drawing, one lesson, during the week, and one on Sunday. 

Second year. 1. Physics, two lectures, two lessons, and one hour of manipula- 
tion. 2. Chemistiy, two lectures. 8. Botany, one lesson. 4. Vegetable physiolo- 
gy, two lectures. 5. Calculus of probabilities, two lectures. 6. Difierential and 
integral calculus, two lectures and two lessons. 7. Drawing, one lesson during the 
weekj and one on Sunday. 

Third year. 1. Mechanics, four lectiires and two lessons. 2. Chemical analysis, 
two lectures and one hour of manipulation. 8. Chemistiy, one lecture. 4. Natural 
Mstory, two lessons. 5. Geology, one lesson. 6. Botany, one lesson. 7. Draw- 
ing, one lesson. On Sunday, the pupils make botanical and geological excursions 
into the environs. 

The pupils undergo similar examinations to those of the section of letters, 
and before presenting themselves as candidates for the place of adjunct, they 
must have taken at least the degree of licentiate of sciences. They are 
however, specially relieved from the necessity of matriculating in those 
courses at the university which they attend in the school, and v/hich other- 
wise would be necessary in order to obtain the degree of licentiate. These 
are, for the mathematical sciences, the differential and integral calculus and 
mechanics ; for the physical sciences, physics and chemistry ; and for the 
natural sciences, geology, botany, &c. The examination for the degree of 
licentiate of mathematical science may be made at the end of the second 
year, by pupils of this section of the normal school, and that for licentiate 
of physical science at the close of the third year. 



SECONDARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT PARIS. 263 

The programmes of the several lessons* in both sections are prepared by 
the masters, and submitted to the council of public instruction every year 
before the beginning of the course. 

Besides these lectures and recitations, the pupils are required to attend 
such other lectures at the faculty of letters or of sciences of the university, 
or any other public institution, as may be designated to them. At the ter- 
mination of the third year's course, in the month of July, they are examined 
in the school, and present themselves as competitors for the places of ad- 
juncts, according to the special studies which they have pursued. 

The courses of the school are arranged in reference to the competition for 
these places, an account of the examinations for which has already been 
given in the general description of secondary instruction in France. In this 
competition they are brought in contact with the best talent which has chosen 
a different road to preferment from that offered by the normal school. Suc- 
cess in this trial is, of course, not always a fair criterion of the state of the 
school, but certainly offers, on the average, an idea of the merits of its dif- 
ferent departments, and is so used in directing their improvement. It may 
be of interest, therefore, to give the results of one of these competitions, 
namely, that for 1836. The judges of the competition for the places of ad- 
juncts in philosophy report ten candidates for the six places ; of these, five 
of the successful ones were from the normal school, but the first was from 
another institution. For six vacancies in the higher classes of letters there 
v/ere thirty candidates examined, and of these, two of the successful ones, 
including the first upon the list, were pupils of the school. For adjuncts in 
the sciences there were eight places and nineteen candidates, the school 
furnishing six of the successful competitors, and among them the first on 
the list. In history and geography there were eight candidates for five 
places ; the institutions from which they came are, however, not stated. In 
grammar, there were forty-one candidates for eight places ; of the successful 
competitors the school sent five, and among them the first on the list. 

The keen nature of this competition, while it excites the pupils of the 
school to great exertion, produces a most deleterious effect upon the health 
of the more feeble. Indeed, their general appearance, when compared with 
those of other young men of the same age, is far from favorable. It is part 
of a system which is considered adapted to the national character, but which 
is certainly by no means a necessity for men in general, since the teachers 
of the German gymnasia are prepared without its severe pressure. 

The collections subsidiary to the instruction are — 1st. A library of works 
relating to education and to the courses of study, which is open for two hours 
every day, and from which the students may receive books. This library is 
under the charge of the sub-director of studies. The students are, besides, 
furnished with the books which they use in their classes at the expense of 
the school, and which, unless injured, are returned by them after use. 2d. 
A small collection of physical apparatus. 3d. A collection of chemical 
apparatus connected with a laboratory, for practice in manipulation. The 
courses of manipulation are not, however, carried out to their due extent, 
and the study-rooms are common to many individuals. The pupils are 
divided into two sections for study, each of which is in charge of one of the 
superintending masters. 

Discipline. — Though there are minute regulations for discipline, the age 
of the pupils and the character of their pursuits and expectations render the 
exercise of severity but little necessary. At the time of my visit to the 
school, in 1837, the youngest pupil was seventeen years of age, and there 
were but four of between eighteen and nineteen connected with it. 

Much difference of opinion exists as to whether the frequent permissions 
to individuals to leave the premises should not be replaced by excursions 
made by the whole of the pupils, under the supervision of an officer. At 
• A series of programmea is given in full in M. Cousin's work, before referred to. 



2g4 SECONDARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT PARJS. || 

present, Sunday is a day of general leave of -absence, and on Thursday after- 
noon individual permissions are freely granted by the director of studies. 

This institution occupies the same rank with those attached to some of 
the Prussian universities, and intended to prepare masters for the gymnasia. 
It has an advantage over them in the spirit produced by the greater numbers 
of its pupils, and by the closer connection with the school, which results 
from their studying and residing within its walls. It is, in turn, inferior to 
the seminaries for secondary teachers at Berlin, in the absence of arrange- 
ments for practical teaching, and in even a more important respect, namely, 
the want of that religious motive of action which forms the characteristic 
of the Prussian system. The deficiencies of this great school, in regard to 
both religious and practical education, struck me, I must confess, very forci- 
bly.* 

* In the general tenor of the foregoing remarks, I have the sanction of M. Cousin, in the pref- 
ace to his account of the Normal School, already referred to. 



IRELAND. 



The checkered experience of Ireland, — its dark and its bright sides, — 
forms one of the most instructive chapters in thehistory of popular educa- 
tion. It commences, according to the testimony of the earhest chroniclers, 
with institutions of learning, not only of earlier origin, but of higher repu- 
tation, than any in England or Scotland,— institutions which were resorted 
to by English youth for instruction, who brought back the use of letters 
to their ignorant countrymen. According to Bede and William ot 
Malmesbury, this resort commenced even so early as the seventh century, 
and these youth were not only taught, but maintained without service or 
reward. The great college of Mayo was called "the Mayo of the Sax- 
ons," because it was dedicated to the exclusive use of English students, 
who at one time amounted to no fewer than 2000. Bayle, on the author- 
ity of the historian of the time, pronounces Ireland " the most civilized 
country in Europe,* the nursery of the sciences" from the eighth to the 
thirteeath century, and her own writers are proud of pointing to the 
monastery of Lindisfarne, the college of Lismore, and the forty literary 
institutions of Borrisdole, as so many illustrative evidences oi 'he early 
intellectual activity and hterary munificence of the nation. But Ire- 
land noi only abounded with higher institutions, but there were connected 
with monasteries and churches, as early as the thirteenth century, teachers 
expressly set apart " for teaching poor scholars gratis." When the coun- 
try was overrun by foreign armies, and torn by civil discord, and go-verned 
by new ecclesiastical authorities, set up by the conquerors, and not in 
harmony with the religion of the people, a change certainly passec over 
the face of things, and there follows a period of darkness and educational 
destitution, for which we find no relief in turning to the history of English 
legislation in behalf of Ireland. Indeed there is not a darker page in tL\e 
whole history of religious intolerance than that which records the actioi< 
and legislation of England for two centuries, toward this ill-fated country, 
in this one particular. Even the statute of Henry VIIL, which seems to 
be framed to carry out a system of elementary education already existing 
before the new ecclesiastical authorities were imposed upon the country, 
was intended mainly to convert Irishmen into Englishmen, By that 

* These facts are stated on the authority of a speech of Hon. Thomas Wyse, in the House ot 
Commons, in 1835. 



270 NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

statute, every archbishop and bishop was bound to see that evefy clergy- 
man took an oath " to keep, or cause to be kept, a school to learn English? 
if any children of his parish came to him to learn the same, taking for the 
keeping of the said school such convenient stipend or salary as in the said 
land is accustomably used to be taken;" and both higher and lower 
authorities, archbishops and their beneficed clergymen, are subjected to a 
fine for neglect of duty. The fatal error in this and in all subsequent 
legislation and associated effort for education in Ireland, until the last 
twenty years, was its want of nationality ; the schools were English and 
Protestant, and the people for whom they were established were Irish and 
Catholics, and every effort, by legislation or education, to convert Irishmen 
into Englishmen, and Catholics into Protestants, has not only failed, but 
only helped to sink the poor into ignorance, poverty and barbarism, and 
bind both rich and poor more closely to their faith and their country. 
Every system of education, to be successlul, must be adapted to the in- 
stitutions, habits and convictions of the people. If this principle had been 
regarded in the statute of Henry VIII., Ireland, which had the same, if 
not a better foundation in previous habits and existing institutions, than 
either Scotland or Germany, would have had a system of parochial schools 
recognized and enforced by the state, but supervised by the clergy. Thia 
was the secret of the success of Luther and Knox. What they did was in 
harmony with the convictions and habits of the people. So strangely was 
this troth forgotten in Ireland, that until the beginning of this century, Cath- 
olics, who constituted four-fifths of the population, were not only not permit- 
ted to endow, conduct, or teach schools, but Catholic parents even were not 
permitted to educate their own children abroad, and it was made an 
ofiense, punished by transportation, (and if the party returned it was 
made high treason,) in a Catholic, to act as a schoolmaster, or assistant 
to a schoolmaster, or even as a tutor in a private family. Such a law as 
that in operation for a century, coupled with legal disabilities in every 
form, and with a system of legislation framed to benefit England at the 
expense of ijreland, would sink any people into pauperism and barbarism, 
especially when much, if not most, of the land itself was held in fee by 
foreigners, or Protestants, and the products of the soil and labor were 
expended on swarms of church dignitaries, state officials, and absentee 
la^tjolords. But even when these restrictions on freedom of education and 
tcr-ching were removed in 1785, the grants of money by the Iri.sh and Im- 
perial Parliaments, down to 1825, were expended in supporting schools 
<3xclusively Protestant. Upward of $7,000,000 were expended on the 
Protestant Charter Schools, which were supported by a society which 
originated in 1733, on the alleged ground "that Protestant English 
schools, in certi^n counties inhabited by Papists, were absolutely neces- 
sary for their conversion." By a by-law of this society, the advantages 
of the institutions were limited exclusively to the children of Catholic 
parents. On the schools of the " Society for Discountenancing Vice," 
which originated in 1792, and which was soon converted into an agency 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 2*71 

of proselytism, the government expended, between 1800 and 1827, more 
than a half million of dollars. In 1814, the schools of the " Kildare Place 
Society," began to receive grants from the Parliament, which amounted 
in some years to £50,000, and on an average to $25,000, and in the aggre- 
gate to near $2,000,000 ; and yet the regulations of the Society, although 
more liberal than any which preceded it, were so applied as practically 
to exclude the children of Cathohcs. who constituted, in 1830, 6,423,000, 
out of a population of 7,932,000. 

In 1806 commissioners were appointed by Parliament to inquire into 
the state of all schools, on public or charitable foundations, in Ireland ; who 
made fourteen reports. In their last report, in 1812, they recommend the 
appointment of a board of commissioners, to receive and dispose of all 
parliamentary grants, to establish schools, to prepare a sufficient number 
of well-qualified masters, to prescribe the course and mode of education, 
to select text-books, and generally to administer a system of national 
education for Ireland. To obviate the difficulty in the way of religious 
instruction, the commissioners express a confident conviction that, in the 
selection of text-books, " it will be found practicable to introduce not only 
a number of books in which moral principles should be inculcated in such 
a manner as is likely to make deep and lasting impressions on the youth- 
ful mind, but also ample extracts from the Sacred Scriptures themselves, 
an early acquaintance with which it deems of the utmost importance, and 
indeed indispensable in forming the mind to just notions of duly and sound 
principles of conduct ; and that the study of such a volume of extracts 
from the Sacred Writings would form the best preparation for that more 
particular religious instruction which it would be the duty and inclination 
of their several ministers of religion to give at proper times, and in other 
places, to the children of their respective congregations." 

In 1824, another commission was instituted to inquire into the nature 
and extent of the instruction afforded by ditTerent schools in Ireland, sup- 
ported in whole or in part from the public funds, and to report on the best 
means of extending to all classes of the people the benefit of education. 
This commission sqjamitted nine reports, concurring generally in the 
recommendations of the committee of 1805. 

In 1828, the reports of the commissioners were referred to a committee 
of the House of Commons, who made a report in the same year, in which 
they state their object to be " to discover a mode in which the combined 
education of Protestant and Catholic might be carried on, resting upon 
religious instruction, but free from the suspicion of proselytism." The 
committee therefore recommend the appointment of aboard of education, 
with powers substantially the same as possessed by the former commis- 
sioners. The following resolution presents their views on the matter of 
religious education 

" That it is the opinion of this Committee, that for the purpose of carrying into 
effect the combined Uterary and the separate religious education of the scholars, 
the course of study for four fixed days in the week should be exclusively moral 
and literary ; and that, of the two remaining days, the one to be appropriated 



272 NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

solely to the separate religious instruction of the Protestant children, the other 
to the separate religious instruction of the Roman Catholic children. In each 
case no literary instruction to be given, or interference allowed on the part of 
the teachers, but the whole of the separate religious instruction to be given under 
the superintendence of the clergy of the respective communions. That copies 
of the New Testament, and of such other religious books as may be printed in 
the manner hereinafter mentioned, should be provided for the use of the children, 
to be read in schools, at such times of separate instruction only, and under the 
direction of the attending clergyman : — the established version for the use of 
the Protestant scholars, and the version published with the approval of the 
lloman Catholic bishops for the children of their communion." 

In 1830, the subject was a.gain considered by a select committee of the 
House on the state of the poor in Ireland, and the hope expressed that no 
further time would be lost in giving to Ireland the benefit of the expen- 
sive and protracted inquiries of the commissioners of 1805 and 1825, and 
of the committee of 1828. In September, 1831, Mr. Wyse, author of the 
able volume entitled " Educational Reform," a member of the House 
from Ireland, brought in a bill to establish a system of national education 
for Ireland, but it was not acted upon on account of the adjournment. 

In October, 1831, Mr. Stanley, then Secretary for Ireland, announced, 
in a letter to the Duke of Leinster, Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, the inten- 
tion of the Government to appoint a Board of Commission of National 
Education. The Board were soon after appointed, consisting of the Duke 
of Leinster, the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, the Catholic Arch- 
bishop of Dublin, Rev. Dr. Francis Sadleir, Rt. Hon. A. R. Blake, and 
R. Holmes, Esq., — three Protestants, two Catholics, one Presbyterian, 
and one Unitarian. 

The Board of Commissioners have now been in existence about 
eighteen years. During that time they have encountered bitter opposi- 
tion from able but ultra zealots in the Protestant and Catholic churches ; 
but. sustained by the Government under the administration of all political 
parties, they have gone on extending their operations, and accomplishing 
results which are worthy of the attentive study of every statesman and 
educator. The fruits of their labors are already visible, but they will be 
"read of all men" when another generation comes on the stage. 

The following are among the results of their measures : 
I. The Board have succeeded in establishing a system of National 
Education, or have made the nearest approach to such a system, which 
knows no distinction of party or creed in the children to whom it proffers 
its blessing, and at the same time it guarantees to parents and guardians 
of all communions, according to the civil rights with which the laws of the 
land invest them, the power of determining what religious instruction the 
children over whom they have authority shall receive, and it prohibits all 
attempts at enforcing any, either on Protestant or Roman Catholic chil- 
dren, to which their parents or guardians object. 

" For nearly the whole of the last century, the Government of Ireland labored 
to promote Protestant education, and tolerated no other. Large grants of pub- 
lic money were voted for having children educated in the Protestant faith, 
while it was made a transportable offense in a Roman Catholic (and if the party 
returned, high treason) to act as a schoolmaster, or assistant to a schoolmaster, 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 2*73 

or even as a tutor in a private family.* The acts passed for this purpose contin- 
ued in force from 1709 to 1782. They were then repealed, but Parliament con- 
tinued to vote money for the support only of schools conducted on principles 
which were regarded by the great body of the Roman Catholics as exclusively 
Protestant, until the present system was established." 

" The principles on which they were conducted rendered them to a great ex- 
tent exclusive with respect either to Protestants or to Roman Catholics ; Roman 
Catholic schools being conducted on Roman Catholic principles, were, of 
course, objectionable generally to Protestants ; while Protestant schools, being 
conducted on Protestant principles, were equally objectionable to Roman Cath- 
olics ; and being regarded by Roman Catholics as adverse establishments, they 
tended, when under the patronage of Government, and supported by public 
money, to excite, in the bulk of the population, feelings of discontent toward the 
state, and of alienation from it." 

" From these defects the National Schools are free. In them the importance of 
religion is constantly impressed upon the minds of the children, through works 
calculated to promote good principles, and fill the heart with a love of religion, 
but which are so compiled as not to clash with the doctrines of any particular 
class of Christians. The children are thus prepared for those more strict reli- 
gious exercises which it is the peculiar province of the ministers of religion to 
superintend or direct, and for which stated times are set apart in each school, 
so that each class of Christians may thus receive, separately, such religious 
instruction, and from such persons, as their parents or pastorsmay approve or 
appoint." 

The following Regulations will show the manner in which the Board 
have aimed to avoid the difficulty of religious instruction in schools com- 
posed of difi'erent denominations, as well as the prejudices of political 
parties : 
As to Government of Schools, with respect to Attendance and Religious Instruction. 

"1. The ordinary school business, during which all children, of whatever 
denomination they inay be, are required to attend, is to embrace a specified 
number of hours each day. • - 

2. Opportunities are to be afforded to the children of each school for receiving 
such religious instruction as their parents or guardians approve of 

3. The patrons of the several* schools have the right of appointing such reli- 
gious instruction as they may think proper to be given therein, provided that 
each school be open to children of all communions; that due regard be had to 
parental right and authority ; that, accordingly, no child be compelled to receive, 
or be present at, any religious instruction to which his parents or guardians 
object; and that the time for giving it be so fixed, that no child shall be thereby, 
in effect, excluded, directly or indirectly, from the other advantages which the 
school affords. Subject to this, religious instruction may be given either during 
the fixed school-hours or otherwise. 

4. In schools, toward the building of which the Commissioners have contrib- 
uted, and which are, therefore, vested in trustees for the purposes of National 
education, such pastors or other persons as shall be approved of by the parents 
or guardians of the children respectively, shall have access to them in the school- 
room^ for the purpose of giving them religious instruction there, at convenient 
times to be appointed for that purpose, whether those pastors or persons shall 
have signed the original application or otherwise. 

5. In schools not vested, but which receive aid only by way of salary and 
books, it is for the patrons to determine whether religious instruction shall be 
given in the school-room or not: but if they do not allow it in the school-room, 
the children whose parents or guardians so desire, must be allowed to absent 
themselves from the school, at reasonable times, for the purpose of receiving 
such instruction elsewhere. 

6. The reading of the Scriptures, either in the Protestant authorized, or Douay 
version, as well as the teaching of catechisms, comes within the rule as to reli- 
gious instruction. 

* See 8th Anne, c. 3, and 9tli William III. c. 1. 



274 NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

7. The rule as to religious instruction applies to public prayer and to all 
other religious exercises. 

8. Tlie Commissionens do not insist on the Scripture lessons being read in 
any of the national schools, nor do they allow them to be read during the time 
of secular or literary itistrucilon, in any school attended by children ■whose 
parents or guardians object to their being so read. In such case, the Commis- 
sioners prohibit the use of them, except at the times of religious instruction, 
when the persons giving it may use these lessons or not. as they think proper. 

9. Whatever arrangement is made in any school tor giving religious instruc- 
tion, must be publicly notified in the school-room, in order that those children, 
and those only, may be present whose parents or guardians allow them. 

10. If any other "books than the Holy Scriptures, or the standard books of the 
church to which the children using them belong, are employed in communica- 
ting religious instruction, the title of each is to be made known to the Commis- 
sioners. 

11. The use of the books published by the Commissioners is not compulsory; 
but the titles of all other books which the conductors of schools intend for the 
ordinary school business, are to be reported to the Commissioners ; and none 
are to be used to which they object ; but they prohibit such only as may appear 
to them to contain matter objectionable in itself, or objectionable for common 
instruction, as peculiarly belonging to some particular religious denomination. 

12. A registry is to be kept in each school of the daily attendance of the schol- 
ars, and the average attendance, according to the form furnished by the Com- 
missioners." 

II. The Board have done much to improve the literary qualifications, 
and professional knowledge, and skill of teachers, as well as their pecuniary 
condition, and by a judicious system of classification in salaries, and re- 
warding cases of extraordinary fidelity and success, to diffuse a spirit of 
self-education throughout the whole profession. The main defect in the 
schools of Ireland at the institution of the Board was the incompetency 
of the teachers. They were in general extremely poor, many of them 
were very ^ignorant, and not capable of teaching well even the mere 
art of reading and writing ; and such of them as could do so much, were 
for the most part utterly incapable of corhbining instruction in it with 
such a training of the mind as could produce general information and im- 
provement. One of the first and main objects of the Board was, and con- 
tinues to be, to furnish an opportunity to deserving persons of the right 
character, to qualify themselves properly for teaching, and then, by a fair 
prospect of remuneration and advancement, to devote themselves to the 
business for life, with a holy national and catholic spirit. A brief notice 
of the successive steps by which the present system of training and aid- 
ing teachers in Ireland was reached, will be appropriate to the design of 
this work. The earliest indication of any movement in the educational 
history of Ireland, for the professional training of teachers, was in 1812» 

In their thirteenth annual (for 1812) report, the "Commissioners for in- 
quiring into the state of all schools on public or charitable foundations in 
Ireland," recommend the appointment of a Board of Commissioners as the 
first step in a system of National Education, with power to establish a 
number of additional or supplementary schools to those already in exist- 
ence, and that they be "directed and required to apply themselves imme- 
diately to the preparing a sufficient number of well-qualified masters to 
undertake the conduct of such supplementary schools as they should from 
time to time proceed to endow." 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 275 

"We have already adverted to the deplorable want of such qualification in a 
great majority of those who now teach in the common schools, and to the perni- 
cious consequences arising from it; their ignorance, we have reason to believe, 
is not seldom their least disqualification; and the want of proper books often 
combines with their own opinions and propensities in introducing into their 
schools such as are of the worst tendency. Even for schools of a superior de- 
scription, and under better control, there is a general complaint that proper mas- 
ters can not be procured without much difficulty ; and we are persuaded that a 
more essential service could not be rendered to the State than by carrying into 
effect a practicable mode of supplying a succession of well-quaiified instructors 
for the children of the lower classes." 

The recommendations o£ the Commission were not acted upon, but 
annual grants were subsequently made to the Kildare Place School So- 
ciety, which were applied in establishing two Model Schools in Dublin, 
in which teachers, intended for their employment, were practised in the 
mechanism and methods of the particular system of teaching encouraged 
by that society. The period of instruction, or rather of observation and 
practice, was brief, and the instruction itself amounted to but little more 
than a knowledge of the forms and evolutions of the monitorial system of 
Dr. Bell. 

In 1828, R. J. Bryce, Principal of the Belfast Academy, in a pamphlet 
entitled ^^ Sketch of a Plan for a System of National Education for Ire- 
land,^^ pp. 58, presents a very elaborate argument in favor of legisla-tive 
provision for the education of teachers, as the only sound basis on which 
a system of public instruction for Ireland could be raised. He sums up 
his discussion of this branch of the subject in the following manner : 

1. It is commonly supposed, that a man who understands a subject must be 
qualified to teach it, and that the only essential attribute of an instructor is to 
be himself a good scholar. 

2. Even those who are aware that there often exists a difference between two 
teachers as to their power of communicating, conceive this difference to be of 
much less importance than it really is; and, if ever they take the trouble to 
think of its cause, they ascribe it to some mechanical knack, or some instinctive 
predisposition. 

3. On the contrary, we maintain, that when a man has acquired the fullest 
and most profound knowledge of a subject, he is not yet half qualified to teach 
it. He has to learn how to communicate his knowledge, and how to train the 
young mind to think for itself And, as it usually happens that children are 
placed under the inspection of their instructors, who become in a great measure 
responsible for their morals, every teacher ought also to know how to govern 
his pupils, and how to form virtuous habits in their minds. And this skill in 
communicating knowledge, and in managing the mind, is by far the most important 
qualification of a teacher. 

f>. Every teacher, before entering on the duties of his profession, ought there- 
fore to make himself acquainted with the Art * of Education ; that is, with a 
system of rules for communicating ideas, and forming habits; and ought to ob- 

* The author thus refers to an article in No. 54 of the North American Review, devoted to Mr. 
Carter's Essay, which will he found in another part of this work. 

"The necessity of some regular provision for instructing teachers in the Art of Teaching, has begun 
to be felt by all those who take an enlarged and rational view of the subject of education. The first 
rude essay was made in the model schools of Bell and Lancaster. But reflecting people soon saw the 
utter inefficiency of this mere mechanical training, which bears the same relation to a true and 
rational system of professional education for teachers, that the steam-engine of the Marquis of Wor- 
cester bears to the steam-engine of Watt Hints to this purpose we have met with in various places; 
but the first regular publication on the subject that we have heard of, is one by Mr. .T. G. Carter, an 
American writer, with which we are acquainted only through u short article in No. LIV. of the 
North American Review. * * * 

In short we recommend the whole of this article to the coreful perusal of the friends of real educa- 
tion in Britain and Ireland." 



276 NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

tain such a knowledge of the philosophy of mind, as shall enable him to under- 
stand the reasons of those rules, and to apply them with judgment and discre- 
tion to the great diversity of dispositions with which he will meet in the course 
of his professional labors. 

6. No man is qualified for the delicate and difficult work of managing the 
youthful mind, unless his own mental faculties have been sharpened and invig- 
orated by the exercise afforded to them in the course of a good general edu- 
cation. 

7. Therefore, a legislature never can succeed in establishing a good system of 
national education, without making some provision for insuring a supply of 
teachers possessed of the qualifications specified in the two last articles; in 
order to which, it is indispensably necessary, that Professorships of the Art of 
Teaching be instituted ; and that students, placing themselves under the care 
of such professors, be required to have previously attained a good general edu- 
cation, and, in particular, a competent knowledge of the philosophy of the hu- 
man mind. 

In 1831, the Board of Commissioners of National Education in Ireland 
was established. In a letter from Hon. E. G. Stanley, Chief Secretary 
for Ireland, explaining the powers and objects of the Board, one of the 
objects is declared to be "the establishing and maintaining a Model 
School in Dublin, and training teachers for country schools," and it is 
made a condition on which pecuniary aid shall be granted to any teacher, 
that " he shall have received previous instruction in a Model School to 
be established in Ireland." 

In April, 1833, two Model Schools, one for males and one for females, 
were established by the Board, and two courses of instruction provided 
for teachers in each year, to continue three months each. In 1834, steps 
were taken to extend both the Model Schools and the Training Estab- 
lishment, as set forth in their Report for 1835. 

" If we are furnished with adequate means by the State, not only for training 
schoolmasters, but for inducing competent persons to become candidates for 
teacherships, through a fair prospect of remuneration and advancement, we 
have no doubt whatever that a new class "of schoolmasters may be trained, 
whose conduct and influence must be highly beneficial in promoting morality, 
harmony, and good order, in the country parts of Ireland. 

It is only through such persons that we can hope to render the National 
Schools successful in improving the general condition of the people. It is not, 
however, merely through the schools committed to their charge that the benefi- 
cial effects of their influence would be felt. Living in friendly habits with the 
people; not greatly elevated above them, but so provided for as to be able to 
maintain a respectable station; trained to good habits; identified in interest 
with the State, and therefore anxious to promote a spirit of obedience to lawful 
authority ; we are confident that they would prove a body of the utmost value 
and importance in promoting civilization and peace. 

Formerly, nothing was attempted in elementary schools further than to com- 
municate the art of reading, writing, and arithmetic, with some knowledge of 
grammar, geography, and history. Latterly, teachers have made use of the 
reading lessons to convey information. Writing has been made subservient to 
the teaching of spelling, grammar, and composition, and also to the fixing of 
instruction on the memory. Arithmetic, instead of being taught by unexplained 
rules, has been made the vehicle for conveying the elements of mathematical 
knowledge, and training the mind to accuracy of thinking and reasoning. 
Reading-books have latterly been compiled on these principles, the lessons 
being so selected as to convey the elements of knowledge on a variety of Sttb- 
jects. And this introduction of intellectual exercises into the teaching of these 
elementary arts, has been found to produce a reflex effect upon the progress of 
the pupils in learning the arts themselves. Children are found to be more easily 
taught to read when, while they are learning to pronounce and combine sylla- 
bles and words into sentences, they are receiving information. Their writing 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 2*77 

f)roceeds better when, while they are learning the mechanical art, they are 
earning the use of it; and they become belter arithmeticians when the princi- 
ples on which arithmetical operations are founded are gradually developed to 
them. 

To teach upon this principle, it is absolutely necessary that the teacher not 
only be able to read, and spell, and write well, and be a good practical arithme- 
tician, but that he be a person of general intelligence, having an extensive and 
accurate knowledge of the subjects treated of in the reading lessons. He must 
know much more than is expressed in the lessons themselves, or he will be 
totally unable to explain them familiarly, to correct the mistakes into which 
his pupils fall, and answer the innumerable questions that will be put to him as 
soon as the understandingof his pupils begins to be exercised on any subject. 

It is therefore necessary that teachers should not merely be able to teach their 
pupils to read, write, and to conduct schools upon an approved system of disci- 
pline, but that they be able to aid in forming the minds of children, and direct- 
ing their power of reading into a beneficial channel. The power of reading is 
frequently lost to children, and even becomes a .source of corruption and mis- 
chief to them, because they have never been directed to the proper use of it ; and 
it is consequently of the highest importance that, while they are taught to read, 
their thoughts and inclinations should have a beneficial direction given to them. 
To efiect this, manifestly requires a teacher of considerable skill and intelli- 
gence. 

To secure the services of such persons, it is material that suitable means of 
instruction should be provided for those who desire to prepare themselves for the 
office of teaching, and that persons of character and ability should be induced 
to seek it by the prospect of adequate advantages. 

With these views, we propose establishing five Professorships in our training 
institution. I. Of the art of teaching and conducting schooLs. The professor 
of this branch to be the head of the institution. II. Of composition. English 
literature, history, geography, and political economy. III. Of natural history 
in ail its branches. IV. Of mathematics and mathematical science. V. Of 
mental philosophy, including the elements of logic and rhetoric. We propose 
that no person shall be admitted to the training institution, who does not previ- 
ouslv undergo a satisfactory examination in an entrance course to be appointed 
for that purpose; and that each person who may be admitted shall study in it 
for at least uvo years before he be declared fit to undertake the charge of a 
school; that during this time, he shall receive instruction in the different 
branches of knowledge already specified, and be practised in leaching the model 
school, under the direction of the professor of teaching. 

We are of opinion that, in addition to the general training institution, thirty- 
two district Model Schools should be established, being a number equal to that 
of the counties of Ireland; that those Model Schools should be under the direc- 
tion of teachers chosen for superior attainments, and receiving superior remu- 
neration to those charged with the general or Primary Schools; and that, here- 
after, each candidate for admission to the training establishments should undergo 
a preparatory training in one of them. 

We think the salary of the teacher of each Model School should be £\00 a 
year, and that he should have two assistants, having a salary of £bO a year 
each. 

We consider that the teacher of each Primary School should have a certain 
salary of .£25 a year; and that the Commissioners for the time being should be 
authorized to award annually to each a further sum, not exceeding £b, provided 
they shall see cause for doing so in the Inspector's report of his general conduct, 
and the character of the school committed to him. We are also of opinion 
that each teacher should be furnished wiih apartments adjoining the school." 

By the parliamentary grants of 1835 and 1836, the Board were enabled 
to proceed with the erection of suitable buildings, and the establishment 
of the Model School, and Training Department, in Marlborough street, 
Dublin, which were completed in 1838. To this, in 1839, was added a 
Model Farm, and School of Agriculture, at Glasnevin, in the neighbor- 
hood of Dublin, where the male teachers are lodged, and where they 
receive a course of instruction in agricultural science and practice. 

18 



278 NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

The training department was at first intended for schoolmasters ; but 
in 1840, through the munificent donation of £1000, by Mrs. Drummond, 
for this special purpose, and an appropriation of a like amount by th© 
Government, a suitable building was erected in connection with the Model 
School in Marlborough street, for the training of female teachers. In 
addition to the ordinary course of instruction in the theory and practice of 
teaching, schoolmistresses are instructed in plain needlework, in the 
art of cutting out and making up articles of female wearing apparel, in 
the arts of domestic economy, such as cottage cookery, washing, ironing, 
mangling, and other useful branches of household management. 

The Commissioners have recently erected in Dublin subsidiary Model 
Schools, where temporary courses of instruction are given to teachers 
already connected with National Schools. 

In connection with, and in extension of the plan of the central Training 
Establishment, a system of Primary Model Schools in each district into 
which the country is divided, is commenced. To several of these schools 
a residence for the teacher, and land for a Model Farm, are annexed. It is 
in contemplation to make these District Model Schools the residence of 
the inspector, and depots for a supply of school books, apparatus, and 
requisites for the schools of the district. Respecting these Model Schools 
and Training Department, the Board remark in 1848 : 

"Our training establi.shments conlinue in a prosperous state. We have 
trained, during the year, and supported at the public expense, 224 national 
teachers, of whom 137 were males and 87 were females. We also trained 14 
teachers not connected with National Schools, and who maintained themselves 
during their attendance at the Model Schools. Of the 224 teachers of National 
Schools trained during the year, 9 were of the Established Church, 37 Presby- 
terians, 3 Dissenters of other denominations, and 17.5 Roman Catholics. The 
total number of male and female teachers trained, from the commencement of 
our proceedings to tlie 3 1st of December, 1847, is 2 014. We do not include in 
this number those teachers who are not connected with National Schools. 

With reference to the training of teachers we have to observe, that the expe- 
rience of each successive year sirengthens our conviction of its importance. It 
is vain to expect that the National Schools, established in all parts of Ireland, 
will ever be effectively conducted, or the art of communicating knowledge ma- 
terially improved, until a sufficient number of well-paid masters and mistresses 
can be supplied, thoroughly qualified, by previous training, to undertake the 
office of teachers, and feeling a zealous interest in promoting the great objects 
of their profession. 

We have observed, with satisfaction, a marked improvement in the appear- 
ance, manners, and attainments of every successive class of teachers, who come 
up to be trained in our Normal establishment. With reference to the two last 
classes, we have ascertained that 34 teachers in the last, and 73 in the present, 
had been originally educated as fUfiU in National Schools. It is from this de- 
scription of persons, to whom the practice of instructing others has been familiar 
from their childhood, that we may expect to procure the most intelligent and 
skillful teachers, to educate the rising generatioii of Ireland. 

It is a gratifying fact, ihat the good feeling which has always prevailed 
amongst the teachers of different religious denominations residing together in 
our training establishment, has suffered no interruption w'hatever during the 
last year of extraordinary public excitement. 

Whilst every attention has been paid to the improvement of the children in 
our Model Schools, in the various branches of their secular education, the par- 
amount duty of giving to them, and the teachers in training, religious iristruc- 
tion,has not been neglected by those intrusted wiih that duty. Upon this sub- 
ject we deem it expedient to republish the statement made in our Report of last 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 2l'9 

year, which is as follows: — ='The arrangements for the separate religious in- 
struction of the children of all persuasions attending these schools, and also of 
the teachers in training, continue to be carried into effect every Tuesda}', under 
the respective clergymen, with punctuality and satisfaction. Previously to the 
arrival of the clergymen, each of the teachers in training is employed in giving 
catechetical and other religious instruction to a small class of children belong- 
ing to his own communion. These teachers attend their respective places of 
worship on Sundays; and every facility is given, both before and after Divine 
service, as well as at other times, for their spiritual improvement, under the 
directions of their clergy.' " 

III. They have not only increased the number of ordinary elementary 
Gchools, but they have established and aided a number of special schools 
of different grades, pre-eminently calculated to benefit the people of Ire- 
land. 

1. Evening Schools. The experiment was commenced at Dublin, 
under the direct inspection of the Board, and was conducted to their satis- 
fiction. They thus refer to the subject in their report for 1847 : 

" The average attendance of the Evening School on our premises in Marlbo- 
rough street, Dublin, during the past year, was about 200, composed partly of 
boys who cuuld not attend school during the day, and partly of adults. 

The anxiety evinced by boys, and by young men from eighteen to twenty-five 
years of age, to participate in the advantages afforded by this school, confiims 
our opinion that such institutions, if well conducted, will be of incalculable 
benefit to the working classes ; and that, if established in large towns, or in 
populous localities adjoining them, they will form an important step in the edu- 
cation of the artisan between the comnion National School and the Mechanics' 
Institution. After the toils of the day, the humble laborer and the tradesman, 
will find in Evening Schools the means of literary and moral improvement, and 
a protection against temptations to which, at tiieir age, this class of persons are 
peculiarly exposed. 

"We received during the year numerous applications for aid to Evening 
Schools, the majority of which we rejected, being of opinion that our grants for 
this purpose should as yet be confined to large towns, in which trade and manu- 
factures are extensively carried on, and where alone we at present possess the 
means of inspection. We made grants to twelve Evening Schools in the course 
of the year. It is probable that the number of applications for assistance will 
gradually increase. Should this be the case, we shall take the necessary steps 
to ascertain that the Evening Schools are properly conducted, and that the sys- 
tem of education carried on in them, is adapted to the varied occupations of the 
artisans, mechanics, and others, w"ho are desirous of obtaining the special in- 
struction which t'neir several trades and avocations require." 

2. Workhouse Schools. The children of families provided for in work- 
houses, under the Poor Law Commissioners in Ireland, are gathered into 

'schools under the care of the Board. In 1847 there were 104 of these 

Bchools, for which the Board propose the following vigorous measures of 

improvement : 

, "1. That the minimum rate of salary to male teachers, in addition to apart- 
ments and rations, shall be £30 a year; and to female teachers X25, exclusive 
of any gratuity from the Commissioners of National Education. 

2. That no teacher shall be required to undertake the instruction of more 
than from 80 to 100 children ; and that assistant teachers be provided, at lower 
salaries, when the daily average attendance considerably exceeds 100. 

3. That in female schools, when the number of pupils considerably exceeds 
100, a work-mistress be engaged, in addition to the prinjjipal teacher, to instruct 
the children in the various branches of plain needlework, and in the art of cut- 
ting out, and making up articles of female wearing apparel. 

4. That the whole time of the teachers shall be devoted to the literary, moral, 



280 NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

and industrial education of the children, and to the superintendence of them, 
during the hours of recreation and manual labor. 

5. That Evening Schools be opened for the instruction of the adult paupers, 
and of such of the pupils of the day schools, as it may be practicable and desir- 
able to have in attendance for two hours each evening. The Evening Schools 
to be conducted by the teachers of the day schools. 

6. That the number of children to be accommodated in each school-room be 
so regulated, as that a space of at least six square feet be allowed for each 
child. 

7. That every Workhouse School, in connection with the Commissioners of 
National Education, be supplied with suitable furniture and apparatus, accord- 
ing to models to be furnished by ihem. 

8. That each Workhouse School, on its coming into connection with the 
Commissioners of National Education, be gratuitously supplied with a com- 
plete outfit of books, maps, stationery, &;c., and that a further supply be granted 
afterward, at stated periods. 

9. That two of the local Guardians be requested to visit the schools weekly, 
and report once a month to the Board of Guardians. This duty might be ren- 
dered less onerous, if undertaken by the members of the Board in rotation. 

10. That in order to provide industrial training for pauper-children, a suffi- 
cient quantity of land be annexed to each Workhouse, to be cultivated as farms 
and gardens by the pupils of the schools; and that, for this purpose, Agricultur- 
ists be appointed, to the most deserving of whom ihe Commissioners of National 
Education will award gratuities not exceeding i;i5 each. 

11. That it is advisable, under particular circumstances, to consolidate two 
or three Unions, and to establish a Central Agricultural School, to be attended 
by the children of each." 

3. Industrial Schools. The Board have extended aid to a class of 
schools which gather in children who can not ordinarily be induced to 
attend the regular day schools, and who need special care and training. 
The results are shown in the following extracts from the Reports of the 
Inspectors appointed by the Board : 

" Claddah Fishing School, County Galway. — The attendance has been, sometimes, over 
500, and the average for six months has been nearly 400. I regret that the apparatus re- 
quisite forgiving an extensive course of instruction on practice of navigation has not 
been provided, and that there are no funds available for this purpose. 

Since the opening of the female schools, 36 girls have been employed in the industrial 
room at spinning and net-making ; and in providing materials and making trifling dona- 
.tions to children, £66 \s. 6d. have ijeen nearly expended. The schools are in a much 
better state than 1 expected them to be, the merit of which must be attributed to the 
praiseworthy assiduity and attention of the manager, and rev. gentlemen of the Caddah 
convent." 

4. Agricultural Scliools. In accordance with the wise policy which 
has characterized all the measures of the Board, of trying all new exper- 
iments under their own inspection, and of exhibiting a working plan, the 
Board first established a Model Farm and Agricultural School at Glas- 
nevin, in connection with the Training Establishment in Dublin, and 
afterward attached an ordinary National School to the establishment at 
Glasnevin, to ascertain to what extent industrial training suited to the 
wants and circumstances of the locality, could be united with literary 
instruction. As to the results the Board remark : 

" It has proved that literary instruction and practical instruction in garden- 
ing, together with some knowledge of agriculture, maybe successfully commu- 
nicated to boys in a National School by one master, provided he be zealous and 
skillful. No' difficulty has been experienced in inducing a limited number of 
the advanced boys to wsrk in the garden two hours each day, after the ordinary 
■ school business. The scholars composing the Industrial class are paid six- 
pence a week each for their labor ; and the produce of the garden is valued to 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 281 

the Commissioners, at the current market prices, for the use of the teachers 
and domestics, in the male and female training establishments : an account is 
kept by the teacher of the receipts as well as of the expenses of cultivation. 
Our masters in training have thus an opportunity of seeing a model of what a 
small village school ought to be in a rural district, and how far it is practicable, 
under one and the same master, to unite literary and industrial education. 
The boys employed in cultivating the garden attend daily, together with the 
teachers in training, a course of lectures on the elementary principles of agricul- 
ture, as well as of gardening. The practical information they thus acquire, 
and the habits of industry to which they become accustomed, can not fail to be 
highly serviceable to them in after life. It will be a subject for future consid- 
eration, whether this arrangement for the regulation of the labor of the garden 
might not be so altered, as to place under each of the pupils a small allofment, 
which he shall be required to cultivate, being permitted to receive a portion of 
the profit derived from his industry. 

We conceive that no greater boon could be conferred upon Ireland than the 
esiabli.shment of similar schools in every country parish. They would not only 
be conducive to the improvement of the laboring classes themselves, but would 
tend materially to remove the prejudices existing amongst many respectable 
farmers, against the mere literary education of the peasantry. Schools of this 
description would prove, by the combination of intellectual with industrial 
training, that not only are the understandings of the young developed by this 
species of education, but their bodies formed and disciplined to habits of useful 
and skillful labor." 

After training up teachers competent to conduct Agricultural Schools. 
and showing thera a working model of such a school, and also of an ordi- 
nary school in which agriculture was introduced as a study and an exer- 
cise, the Board proceeded to establish Model Agricultural Schools, pub- 
lish Agricultural Class Books, and promote the study of agriculture in all 
the schools under their care, in appropriate situations. In their Report 
for 1847 they remark : 

"We had in operation on the 3lst of December, 1847, seven Model Agricul- 
tural Schools ; and we have made building grants of .£-200 each to ten others of 
this class, some of which are in progress. In addition to those schools, there 
are twelve other Agricultural Schools to which small portions of land are; 
attached; and to the masters of these we pay an additional salary of £5 per 
annum for their agricultural services; and other emoluments are secured to 
them by the local managers. Since the commencement of the present year, 
several applications have been received for aid both to Model and ordinary 
Agiicultural Schools; so that we hope to announce, in our next Report, the 
establishment of a greater number. 

We have published an Agricultural Class Book for the use of the advanced 
pupils attending the National Schools, which it is intended shall be read by all 
the pupils capable of understanding its contents. The object of this little work 
is to explain, in as simple language as possible, the best mode of managing a 
small farm and kitchen garden. Appended to it are introductory exercises, in 
which the scholars should be examined by the teachers. In order to render the 
lessons attractive, they have been thrown into the form of a narrative, calcula- 
ted to arrest the attention of young readers. This reading book is not, however, 
designed as an agricultural manual for our teachers. We propose to supply 
this want by the publication of a series of agricultural works, rising from the 
simplest elementary book, to scientific teaching of a high character, and com- 
prehending various branches of practical knowledge, bearing upon the subject 
of agricultural instruction. We distributed last year, amongst our teachers, a 
variety of cheap and useful tracts, relating to the best modes of cultivating the 
soil, and providing against the dearth of food ; and we are now engaged in cir- 
culating, amongst our masters, several other elementary treatises on husbandry, 
recently published under the direction of the Royal Agricultural Society, and 
containing much valuable information. 

In a limited number of large National Schools, situated in rural districts, we 
intend to introduce agricultural instruction, subject to the following conditions : 



282 NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

If the manager of a National School of this description, or any respectable 
person of whom he approves, shall annex to it a farm of eight or ten acres, and 
erect the necessary farm buildings thereon, without requiring any grant from 
us toward building, repairs, the purchase of stock, or the payment of rent, we 
propose in such cases to pay the Agricultural teacher a salary not exceeding 
£30 per annum. 

We shall leave the appointment of the teacher and the superintendence of the 
farm to the proprietor of the land, or to the manager of the school, should he 
also be the owner of the land. All we shall require will be, that the teacher be 
competent, in the opinion of our Agricultural Inspector, to manage the farm 
according to the most improved system; and that he shall instruct daily, in the 
theory and practice of agriculture, a sufficient number of advanced boys, who 
shall be in .attendance at the adjoining National School. Our Agricultural 
Inspector will be required to report half-yearly whether the farm has been con- 
ducted to his satisfaction, and whether the regulations which we shall prescribe 
for the agricultural instruction of the pupils have been strictly adhered to. 
"The plan we have now explained can not be effectually worked by our ordi- 
nary inspectors. It will be necessary, tlierefore, that our Agricultural Schools, 
including our Model Farm at Glasnevin, should be under the superintendence 
of a person, practically conversant with agricultural operations, with plans of 
farm buildings, and the best method of keeping farming accounts; and who 
shall be competent to examine and report on the system of agricultural in- 
struction adopted in schools of this description. We have, accordingly, deter- 
mined upon appointing an officer to discharge those important duties. With 
his assistance, we shall in future be able to make full and satisfactory reports to 
Parliament of the agricultural branch of our system. 

In order to supply the demand for persons qualified to conduct farms and Agri- 
cultural Schools, we have resolved upon increasing, from twelve to twenty-four, 
the number of agricultural pupils, who compose the free class, at our Model 
Farm, Glasnevin ; also, upon increasing to the same extent the number of agri- 
cultural teachers at our training establishment there. We shall thus have a 
total of forty-eight pupils and teachers, who will be all under instruction at the 
same time. 

Our agricultural pupils are selected from the best qualified of our pupils 
attending our several Agricultural Schools throughout Ireland; and our agri- 
cultural teachers who come up to be trained, are chosen from among the masters 
of ordinary National Schools. This arrangement is calculated to accelerate 
the diffusion of agricultural instruction throughout our schools, and, generally, 
amongst our teachers. 

Though convinced that, by means of these and other arrangements, we may 
become instrumental in promoting the cause of Agricultural Education in Ire- 
land, we teel bound to state that v/e can accomplish little, unless our efforts be 
cordially sustained by the co-operation of the landed proprietors of the country. 
The Agricultural Schools must, in almost all cases, be created by them, and 
conducted under their directions. It will be necessary for them to expend 
much money, and bestow constant care upon them. The salaries, training, and 
inspection, furnished by the state, are indispensable ; but they will he unavail- 
ing if local expenditure and exertions do not supply the groundwork upon which 
the assistance of Government is to be brought into operation." 

5. School Libraries. From the following extracts, it will be seen that 

the Board are about to adopt the educational policy of New York and 

Massachusetts in extending the means of self-education out of school 

hours, and beyond the period of school attendance. 

" The want of School Libraries for the use of the children attending our 
schools has been long felt. To compile a series of instructive and entertaining 
works adapted to this purpose, would occupy a very considerable time, and 
require the assistance of many individuals well qualified for compiling books 
suited to the minds of children. Under these circumstances, we have adopted 
the necessary steps for the selection of a sufficient number from those already 
published. Care will be taken that they are unobjectionable in all respects, to 
the members of every religious denomination. We shall buy them from the 
publishers at the lowest cost, and sell them at reduced prices to such of the 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 283 

managers of oar schools as may approve of their being lent to their pupils. 
We shall also frame regulations for managing the School Libraries when 
formed, which will insure a regular delivery and return of the books." 

IV. The Board have aided in the erection and fitting up of more than 
3000 school-houses in different parts of Ireland, by contributing an amount, 
not more in any case Than t\\so-thirds of the sum actually expended. The 
expenditure in Ireland for school-houses, in connection with the Board, up 
to 1S50, has been estimated at $2,500,000. The Commissioners must be 
satisfied as to the site, size, furniture, material, and workmanlike manner 
of the work done, before the payment of any grant. 

V. The Board have succeeded in publishing and introducing a valua- 
ble series of text books, maps and school requisites, prepared with great 
care, and furnished for a first supply, and at the end of every four years 
gratuitously to each school, and at other times below cost. Great pains 
have been taken to exclude from all books published or sanctioned by 
them, every thing of a sectarian or party character, the upper and the 
nether millstone between which Ireland has been for two centuries 
crushed. The publication of this "Irish National Series of School 
Books." has had the effect already to reduce the price of all school books 
in England and Scotland, and to lead to the revision of most of the stand- 
ing text books, in order to compete with this new competitor in the market 
In their Fourteenth Report (for 1847) the Board remark : 

"We have the gratification to state that the demand for our school-books, in 
England and Scotland, is progressively increasing. Many of our colonies, 
too, have been supplied during the year with large quantities; and in some of 
them a system of public instruction for the poor, similar in its general charac- 
ter to that of the national system in Ireland, as being equally adapted to a pop- 
ulation of a mixed character as to their religious persuasions, is likely to be 
established. We have sent books and requisites to Australia, British Guiana, 
Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Gibraltar, and Malta. 
A complete series of our National school-books was also sent to Lord Seaton, 
the Governor of Corfu; and it is not improbable that they will be translated, at 
no distant period, into the Greek language, for the use of children attending 
schools in the Ionian Islands." 

VI. The Board have subjected their schools to a system of thorough, 
periodical and intelligent inspection, by which all abuses and deficiencies 
are detected, and at once corrected or supplied, and a stimulus of the most 
powerful character is brought to bear on all of the teachers in any way 
aided by the Commissioners. 

Besides three head inspectors residing at Dublin, for local duties and 
special business abroad, there are thirty-four district inspectors, who de- 
vote their whole time to the services of the Board, under the following 
regulations : 

" 1. The commissioners do not take the control or regulation of any school, 
except their own model schools, directly into their own hands, but leave all 
schools aided by them under the authority of the local conductors. The in- 
spectors, therefore, are not to give direct orders, as on the part of the Board, re- 
specting any necessary regulations, but to point out such regulations to the 
conductors of the school, that they may give the requisite orders. 

2. The commissioners require that every National School be inspected by the 
inspector of the district, at least three times in each year. 



284 NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

3. The district inspector, on each inspection, is to communicate with the 
patron or correspondent, for the purpose of affording information concerning 
the general state of the school, and pointing out such violations of rule, or de- 
fects, if any, as he may have observed; and he is to make such suggestions as 
he may deem necessary. 

4. He is to examine the visitors' book, or daily report book, and to transmit 
to the commissioners copies of any observations made therein which he may 
consider to be of importance. 

5. He is not to make any observation in the book except the date of his visit, 
the time occupied in the inspection of the school, showing the precise time at 
which it commenced and the precise time at which it terminated ; and also the 
number of scholars present. 

6. Upon ordinary occasions, he is not to give any intimation of his intended 
visit; but during the middle term of the year, from the 1st of May to theSlst of 
August, when the inspection is to be public, he is to make such previous 
arrangements with the local managers, as will facilitate the attendance of 
the parents of the children, and other persons interested in the welfare of the 
schools. 

7. He is to report to the commissioners the result of each visit, and to use 
every means to obtain accurate information as to the discipline, management, 
and methods of instruction pursued in the school. 

8. He is to examine all the classes in succession, in their different branches 
of study, so as to enable him to ascertain the degree and efficiency of the in- 
struction imparted. 

9. He is to examine the class rolls, register, and daily report book ; and to 
report with accuracy what is the actual number of children receiving instruc- 
tion at the school, and what is the daily average attendance. 

10. He is to receive a monthly report from the teacher of each school, and 
also to make one quarterly himself to the commissioners, in addition to his or- 
dinary report upon the school after each visit. 

11. He is also to supply the commissioners with such local information as 
they may from time to time require from him, and to act as their agent in all 
matters in which they may employ him ; but he is not invested with authority 
to decide upon any question affecting a National School, or the general business 
of the commissioners, without their direction. 

12. When applications for aid are referred to the district inspector, he is to 
communicate with the applicant so as to insure an interview, and also with 
the clergymen of the different denominations in the neighborhood, with the view 
of ascertaining their sentiments on the case, and whether they have any, and 
what, objections thereto. He is also to communicate personally, if necessary, 
with any other individuals in the neighborhood. 

13. The district inspector is to avoid all discussions of a religious or political 
nature ; he is to exhibit a courteous and conciliatory demeanor toward all 
persons with whom he is to communicate, and to pursue such a line of conduct 
as Avill tend to uphold the jitst influence and authority both of managers and 
teachers. 

VII. They have, by their wise and successful measures, induced the 
British Parliament to increase their annual appropriation in aid of Na- 
tional Education in Ireland. The sum appropriated in 1831 was £4,328 ; 
in 1835, £35,000 ; in 1840, £50,000 ; and in 1847, £90,000. The whole 
sum expended by the Board in 1847 was £102,318. To the amount re- 
ceived from the Treasury was added the sum of £8,500. realized from 
the sale of books, published by the Board. The sum appropriated by 
the Board is made the condition and inducement of a still larger sum 
being raised by local and parental effort. The following account of the 
expenditures of the Board for 1847, will indicate the objects which they 
aimed to accomplish : 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 



285 



THE DISCHARGE. 

Normal Establishment : 

Salaries and Wages, 

General Expenditure, 

Male Training Department, Glasnkvin: 

Salaries and Wages 

Maintenance and Traveling, 

General Expenditure, 

Male Training Department, Great George's-street: 

Salaries and Wages, 

Maintenance and Traveling, 

General Expenditure, 

Male Temporary Department, 27, Marlborouoh-street, . 

Female Training Department ; 

Salaries and Wages, 

Maintenance and Traveling, ... 

General Expenditure 

Model School Department, 

Evening School, Marlborough-street, 

Model Farm Department, including the Board and Lodg- 
ing of Agricultural Pupils and Teachers, Rent, Permanent 

Improvements, Salaries, Wages, &c., 

Purchase of Farm Stock and Agriculturallmplements, from Mr. 
Skilling, in November, 

Glasnevin National School:— Completion of Building, Fit- 
ting-up, &c 

Glasnevin Evening School, 

B01LDING, FiTTiNG-up, Repairing, &c.. School-houses, 
Do. Do. Agricultural, Industrial AND oth- 
er Schools, 

Salaries to Teachers and Monitors, 

District Model Schools : — 

Purchase, Rent, toward Building, Furnishing 

Salaries and Allowances to teachers, . . 

General Expenditure, 



&c., 



Inspection, 

Book Department : — 

Her Majesty's Stationery Office, for one year ending 31st March, 

1847, for Paper, Printing, Binding of National School Books, 

including Slates, Pencils, and other School Requisites, . . 

For Books and Requisites purchased from Publishers, and sold 

to the National Schools at reduced prices. Salaries, &.C., . . 

Official Establishment in Marlborough-street, . . . 

Repairs and Works at Marlborough-street, including Pur- 
chase of ground in Rere, for New Male Training Establishment, 

Building and Fitting-up New Book Stores, 

Sundry Repairs and Alterations in various Departments, 

Miscellaneous : — 

Rates, Taxes, and Insurance, 

Coals, Candles, Gas, &c., 

Postage, 

Stamps 

Law Costs, £424 13 2 > 

Sundries, 165 2 3 { 



Incidents, 



Gratuities to Monitors, from Model School Fund, 



James Claridge, ^ccomptant. 



£. s. d. 

861 

23 9 10 

126 2 4 

1,218 15 5 

312 16 8 

119 7 8 

928 12 9 

248 7 5 

307 16 

183 

1,139 8 

306 1 ■ 

852 19 10 

101 9 10 



921 19 8 
916 2 7 



744 18 9 
21 16 6 



3,956 7 10 
399 8 9 



520 



£. s. d. 



232 13 





— 




14,064 8 


5 


3,339 4 


9 


- 




1,100 
1,500 
1,412 4 






301 11 
435 9 
380 5 
136 15 


6 





589 15 


5 







9,333 17 7 



4,355 16 7 
50,209 6 1 



752 13 
9,322 1 7 



17,403 13 2 
4,961 3 8 



4,012 4 2 



1,843 15 11 
124 2 



102,318 14 5 



VIII. The success which has attended the efforts of the Board even 
under the extraorduiary and pecuUarly difficult circumstances of Ireland, 
has had a powerful influence on the cause of educational improvement in 
England, and other parts of the British Empire. 

Much has been done within five years past, and more is now doing ia 
the Province of Upper Canada, by the Government, to establish a system 
of common schools than in any one of the American States, not excepting 
even New York, or Massachusetts. The action of the enlightened and 
indefatigable superintendent of schools, the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, D. D., 
has been guided more by the experience of the National Board of Ireland 
than that of any other State. 



286 



NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 



The following notices of two Industrial Schools, aided by the Board, 
should have been inserted on page 280. 

Ballymena Industrial School. — " This School was established for the purpose of feeding 
and employing, as well as educating, the children of the lowest and most destitute class. 

Eighty children have been admitted up to the present time ; the average for the last sis 
months was 55, (27 males and 28 females ;) the attendance at present, 52, (26 males and 
26 females;) the average ages, from 9 to 12. It is intended to increase the number in 
actual attendance to 60. 

The schools differ from others in providing food for the children, and in requiring ctU 
to work for a staled time daily. In summer the schools open at 7, and close at 5 — four 
hours are given to lessons, &c., four to work, and two for meals and exercise ; in winter 
they open at 8, and close at 4, and the time for meals is somewhat curtailed." 

Belfast Indnstrial School. — " This Establishment is for girls exclusively. The number 
admitted is 95 ; the number present on the 8th of May, 81. Every child admitted into 
this school is taught, in addition to the usual literary branches, knitting and sewing — the 
kind and quality of the work varying according to the knowledge of the pupil. The in- 
dustrial occupations are, therefore, principally knitting, sewing, making up plain cloth- 
ing, and mending clothes. In addition to these branches of instruction, the elder girls 
are taken in turn to the kitchen, laundry, &c., where they are instructed in cooking, 
washing clothes, ironing, cleaning rooms, &c. The time devoted to the literary branches 
is from 3 o'clock, p. m., to 6 o'clock, p. m., on each week day. The hours from JO o'clock, 
A. M., to 2 o'clock, p. M., are for industrial branches. The 'classes of children that are 
eligible' for admission into the institution are : — 

1. Orphans provided with shelter, for the night only, at the house of some friend. 

2. Children of destitute widows. 

3. Neglected children. 

4. Special cases of poverty, from sickness or other causes. 

Some of the results are : — that the orphan obliged to beg for food, though provided with 
shelter for the night by a friend, has been saved from the vice and misery entailed on the 
young mendicant. 

The child of the destitute widow, obliged to work for a stranger for her support, has 
been provided a safe asylum during her mother's absence. 

The child neglected by a drunken father or mother, has met with a comfortable home 
during the day. 

The honest man or woman who has been stricken by sickness, unable to support his 
family, has had them carefully tended. 

The Committee of this valuable Institution have published their First Annual Report, 
which enters into more minute details respecting the food given to the children, and the 
general domestic arrangements. 

Besides the Industrial School, there is, under the management of the ladies' commit- 
tee, an Infant School, of which the arrangements are entirely different. The children 
receive no food in the establishment, and each pupil, generally, pays a penny a week for 
tuition." 



TRAINING DEPARTMENT AND MODEL SCHOOLS 

OP THE 

COMMISSIONERS OF NATIONAL EDUCATION FOR IRELAND. 



The Commissioners for National Education in Ireland, provided in 
1839, in Marlborough street, Dublin, a Normal Establishment for traininc^ 
teachers, and educating persons who are intended to undertake the 
charge of schools. 

The establishment consists of spacious accommodations for class and 
lecture-rooms for the Normal pupilS; school-rooms for three model schoola 
in Marlborough street for the instruction of 800 pupils, and a boarding- 
house and model farm at Giasnevin. in the neighborhood of Dublin. 

The following extracts from the Regulations of the Board regardincr 
the appointment and classification of teachers, the course of instruction, 
&c., will give a good idea of the establishment, and at the same time 
suggest many useful hints to the friends of educational improvement at 
home. 

ADMISSION OF PUPILS INTO THE MODEL SCHOOLS. 

Parents are requested to observe the following rules : 

1. Parents wishing their children to be admitted into these schools must ap- 
ply to the head teacher of the respective schools, on any morning of the week 
except Monday, from half-past nine till ten o'clock. The nanies, residences' 
&c. of the children will then be registered in a book kept for the purpose, and 
as vacancies occur, they will be sent for in the strict order of their respective 
applications ; except in the case of pupils who have been dismissed for irregularity 
of attendance, who are not to be received again till after all the other applicants 
shall have been admitted. 

2. The doors are closed every morning preci.sely at ten o'clock, and the 
children are dismissed at three, except on Saturdays, when the schools close at 
twelve o'clock. 

An opportunity for separate religious instruction is afforded every Tuesday 
from ten till half-past twelve o'clock. 

4. If a child be absent on any day. he must bring a ticket to school, as a token 
that the absence was unavoidable, and by the consent of the parents. Three 
Absence tickets will be given to the parents on application to the heads of the 
respective schools. 

5. If any child be frequently absent, or absent five days successively, 
and the cause be not made known to the teachers before the expiration of the 
five days, such child will be discharged from the school. If the parents wish 
the child to be re-admitted, they must get the name entered in the application 
book as at first ; and vjait till after all the children who have applied for the first 
time shall have been admitted. 

6. The payment is a penny per week, to be paid the first day in each week 
the child attends ; and should any child be unavoidably absent, the penny 
must nevertheless be paid weekly so long as the parent wishes the name of the 
child to remain on the roll. 

GENERAL LESSONS TO BE INCULCATED IN THE MODEL SCHOOLS AND TRAINING 
DEPARTMENT, AND IN ALL SCHOOLS OF THE BOARD. 

Christians should endeavor, as the Apostle Paul commands them, to " liv.e 
peaceably with all men," (Rom. ch. xii. v. 18,) even with those of a difierent 
religious persuasion. 



288 NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS OF IRELAND. 

Our Savior, Christ, commanded his disciples to " love one another ;" he 
taught them to love even their enemies, to bless those that cursed them, and to 
pray for those who persecuted them. He himself prayed for his murderers. 

Many men hold erroneous doctrines, hut we ought not to hate or persecute 
them. We ought to seek for the truth, and to hold fast what we are convinced 
is the truth ; but not to treat harshly those who are in error. Jesus Christ did 
not intend his religion to be forced on men fey violent means He would not 
allow his disciples to fight for him. 

If any person treats us unkindly, we must not do the same to them ; for Christ 
and his apostles have taught us not to return evil for evil. If we would obey 
Christ, we must do to others, not as they do to us, but as we should wish them 
to do to us. 

duarreling with our neighbors, and abusing them, is not the way to con- 
vince them that we are in the right, and they in the wrong. It is more likely 
to convince them that we have not a Christian spirit. 

We ought to show ourselves followers of Christ, " who, when he was reviled, 
reviled not again," (1 Pet. ch. ii. v. 23,) by behaving gently and kindly to 
every one. 

TEN PRACTICAL RULES FOR THE TEACHERS OF NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 

I. To keep at least one copy of the General Lesson, or a Lesson of similar 
import, suspended conspicuously in the school-room, and to inculcate the prin- 
ciples contained in it on the minds of their pupils. 

II. To exclude from the school, except at the hours set apart for religious in- 
struction, all catechisms and books inculcating peculiar religious opinions. 

III. To avoid fairs, markets, and meetings — but above all, political meet- 
ings, of every kind; and to do nothing either in or out of school which might 
have a tendency to confine it to any one denomination of children. 

IV. To keep the register, report book, and class lists, accurately and neatly, 
and according to the precise forms prescribed by the Board. 

V. To classify the children according to the national school books; to study 
those books themselves; and to teach according to the improved methods, as 
pointed out in their several prefaces. 

VI. To observe themselves, and to impress upon the minds of their pupils, 
the great rule of regularity and order — a time and a place for every thing, 

AND every thing IN ITS PROPER TIME AND PLACE. 

VII. To promote, both by precept and example, cleanliness, neatness, and 
DECENCY. To effect this, the teachers should set an example of cleanliness and 
neatness in their own persons, and in the state and general appearance of their 
schools. They should also sati.<fy themselves, by personal inspection every 
morning, that the children have had their hands and faces washed, their hair 
combed, and clothes cleaned, and, when necessary, mended. The school apart- 
ments, too, should be swept and dusted every evening ; and while-washed at 
least once a year. 

VIII. To pay the strictest attention to the morals and general conduct of their 
pupils ; and to omit no opportunity of inculcating the principles of truth and 
HONESTY ; the duties of respect to superiors, and obedience to all persons placed 
in authority over them. 

IX. To evince a regard for the improvement and general welfare of their 
pupils; to treat them with kindness combined with firmness; and to aim at 
governing them by their affections and reason, rather than by harshness and 
severity. 

X. To cultivate kindly and affectionate feelings among their pupils ; to dis- 
countenance quarreling, cruelty to animals, and every approach to vice. 

ADMISSION TO TRAINING DEPARTMENT. 

1. The appointment of teachers rests with the Local Patrons and Commit- 
tees of Schools. But the Commissioners are to be satisfied of the fitness of 
each, both as to character and general qualification. He should be a person 
of Christian sentiment, of calm temper, and discretion ; he should be imbued 
with a spirit of peace, of obedience to the law, and of loyalty to his sovereign; 
he should not only possess the art of communicating knowledge, but be capa- 
ble of moulding the mind of youth, and of giving to the power which education 



NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS OF IRELAND. 289 

confers a useful direction. These are the qualities for which patrons of 
schools, when making choice of teachers, should anxiously look. They are 
those which the Commissioners are anxious to find, to encourage, and to re- 
ward. 

2. The Commissioners have provided a Normal Establishment in Marlbo- 
rough street, Dublin, for training teachers and educating persons who are in- 
tended to undertake the charge of schools; and they do not sanction the ap- 
pointment of a teacher to any school, unless he shall have been previously 
trained at the Normal Establishment ; or shall have been pronounced duly qual- 
ified by the Superintendent of the district in which the school is situated. 

3. Teachers selected by the Commissioners for admission to the Normal Es- 
tablishment must produce a certificate of good character from the officiating 
clergyman of the communion to which they belong. They are to be boarded 
and lodged at an establishment provided by the Board for the purpose at Glas- 
nevin, in the immediate neighborhood of Dublin, to which an agricultural de- 
partment is attached. They are to receive religious instructions from their re- 
spective pastors, who attend on Thursdays at the Normal Establishment; and 
on Sundays they are required to attend their respective places of worship; and 
a vigilant superintendence is at all times exercised over their moral conduct. 

4. They are to attend upon five days in the week at the training and model 
schools, where lectures are delivered on different branches of knowledge, and 
where they are practised in the art of teaching. They are to receive instruction 
at Glasnevin, particularly in agriculture, daily, and they attend on Saturdays 
at the farm, which is conducted under the direction of the Commissioners, and 
where they see theory reduced to practice. They undergo a final examination 
at the close of their course, and each will then receive a certificate according 
to his deserts. The course of training at present occupies a period of four 
months and a half, and for a considerable time previous to their being sum- 
moned, they are required to prepare themselves for the course. 

5. Teachers of schools unconnected with the National Board, if properly 
recommended, are also admitted to attend the Normal Establishment, as day 
pupils, without any charge for tuition ; but such persons maintain themselves 
at their own expense. 

DAILY OCCUPATION IN THE TRAINING DEPARTMENT. 

The Lectures of the Professors commence in the first week of February and August 
in each year, and continue for between four and five months. 

DAILY OCCUPATION OF THE TEACHERs' TIME AND SUBJECTS TAUGHT. 
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

10 to 11 Mr. Sullivan — Principles of Teaching ; Systems of Popular Education 

and Lectures on School-keeping. 

11 to 12 Mr. M'Gauley — Arithmetic, Elements of Algebra, Geometry, and Mechanics. 

12 to 12J Hullah's System of Singing, under Mr. Gaskin, in the Gallery. 
12Jto 1 Relaxation in Play-ground, under Mr. Rintoul. 

1 to Ij Mr. Sullivan — Recapitulation and Examination. 

14 to 2 Mr. M'Gauley — Steam Engine, Elements of Chemistry, and subjects con- 
nected with them. 

2 to 3 Practice of Teaching in Model School under Mr. Rintoul, Mr. Keenan, 

and superintendence of the Professors.* 

3 to 4 Lecture on Agriculture from Mr. Donaghy. 

Tuesdays. 

10 to 11 Hullah's System of Singing under Mr. Gaskin, in the Gallery. 

11 to 12J Religious Instruction, under their respective Clergymen. 
Relaxation in Play-ground, under Mr. Rintoul. 
Mr. Sullivan — Books of the Board, Grammar, Easy Lessons on Reasoning, 

and Elements of Political Economy ; taking Archbishop Whateley's 
" Easy Lessons on Money Matters" as the basis ; and touching only on 
those topics which are plain, •practical, and corrective of popular prejudices. 

Mr. M'Gauley — Same as early Lecture on Mondays. 

Lecture on Agriculture from Mr. DonagHY. 

• During these hours a portion of the teachers in rotation attend the Infant Model School 
under Mr. Young. 



12ito 
I to 


1 
2 


2 to 

3 to 


3 
4 



290 NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS OF IRELAND. 

Thursdays. ^ 

10 fo 11 Mr. Sullivan — Geography, and Elements of Astronomy. 

11 to 12 Mr. M'Gaulicy — Same subjects as early Lecture on preceding days. 

12 to 121 Hullah's System of Singing, under Mr. Gaskin. 
121 to 1 Relaxation in Play-ground, under Mr. RiNTOUL. 

1 to 2 Mr. RiNTOUL — Preparation for Teaching in the Model School. 

2 to 3 Practice of Teaching in Model School, under Mr. Rintohl, Mr. Eeenan, 

and superintendence of the Professors.* 

3 to 4 Lecture on Agriculture from Mr. Donaghv. 

Saturdays. 

10 to 12 Mr. DoNAGHY — At the farm for practical Instruction in Agriculture. 
12 to 2 Mr. GiLsoN— Surveying. 

2 to 3 Mr. Campbkll — Horticulture. 

SPECIAL CLASS. 

*»* The Junior Division attend with the General or Ordinary Class, as above. 

The Senior Divison, or those who have attended two .courses of Lectures, are em- 
ployed in the Model School, under Mr Keenan, except at the periods in which the Gen- 
eral Class learn the practice of Teaching under Mr. Rintoul. At these periods the 
Special Class receive extra and special instruction from one of the Professors. For the 
present, Mr. M'Gauley will take them on Thursdays, at the hour in which the men 
will lie in the Model Schools for the practice of Teaching ; and also, from 2 till half-past 
2 o'clock on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays : Mr. RiNTOUL will also give them spe- 
cial instruction on Tuesdays, from 10 till 11 o'clock ; and Mr. Sullivan will mark out a 
course of reading for them, and examine them from half-past nine to 10 o'clock on Tues- 
days, on the books recommended ; he will also give them exercises to write on the sub- 
ject of Education and School-keeping. 

FEMALE CLASS OF TEACHF.RS IN TRAINING. 
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Frid-ays. 
9|to lOJ Mr. Rintoul — Writing, Arithmetic, Elocution, and Writing and Spelling, by 
Dictation. 

11 to 12 Mr. Sullivan — Geography, Grammar, Principles of Teaching, and Lectures 

on School-keeping. t 

12 to 12J Relaxation in Play-ground. 

12^ to 3 Female Model and Infant Schools. 

3 to 4 Miss Byene — For Singing. 

Tuesdays. 

9ito 101 Mr. Rintoul — Same subjects as on Mondays. 
10 to 122 Separate Religions Instruction. 
12jto 1 Relaxation in Play-ground. 

l" to 2 Mr. M'Gauley — Arithmetic. 

2 to 3 Mr. Rintoul — Practice of Teaching. 

3 to 4 Miss Byrne — For Singing. 

Saturdays. 
10 fo 12 Female Model School. 
12 to 12h Miss Byene — For Singing. 

classification and salaries op teachers. 

Teachers of national schools are divided into three classes, to which the fol- 
lowing salaries are attached: 

First Class. First Division: males, X30; females, £24. Second Division: 
males, £25; females, £-20. Third Division: males, £22; females £18 per 
annum. 

Second Class. First Division : males, £20; females, £15. Second Division : 
males, £18; females, £14 per annum. 

Tkird Class. First Division : males, £16; females, £13. Second Division : 
males, £14; females, £12 per annum. 

Probationary Teachers. Males, £10; females, £9 per annum. 

Assistant Teachers. Males, £10; females, £9 per annum. 

Mistresses to leach Needle Work. £f) per annum. 

* In order thiit the teachers in training mny see the Model School in all its phases, we change 
the hours of our Lectures every Thursday, so ns to enable them to attend the first Thursday in the 
cour.'ie from 10 to Jl o'clocic, the second from 11 to 12, nnd so on. 

( Except from 11 till 12 o'clock on Thursdays, which they speed in the Female Model School. 



NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS OF IRELAND. 



291 



Masters of agricultural model schools, with farms of eight or ten acres an- 
nexed, who are competent to conduct both the literary and agricultural depart- 
ments, are to receive £10 per annum, in addition to the salary of the class in 
which they may be placed. 

Masters of national schools, 'with a small portion of land annexed, consisting 
of from two to three acres, for the purpose of atlbrding agricultural instruction, 
will receive £5 per annum, in addition to the salary of their class, provided 
ihey are competent to conduct both the literary and agricultural departments, 
and that the commissioners shall have previously approved of agriculture being 
taught in the school. 

The commissioners will not grant salary to an assistant teacher, or to a 
teacher of needlework, unless they are satisfied that the appointment is necessary ; 
and such teachers, even though they may he classed, will not be paid any higher 
rate of salary than the amount awarded to them as assistant teachers, or teach- 
ers of needlewoi k, until promoted to the rank of principal teacher, with the 
sane ion of the commissioners. 

The commissioners have determined upon a course of study for each class, 
in which the teachers are to be examined as a test of their fitness for promo- 
tion ; but their general conduct, the condition of their respective schools, their 
method of cjnducting them, and the daily average attendance of pupils, will 
also be taken into consideration. 

Every national teacher will be furnished with a copy of the program of the 
course of study above referred to. 

The commissioners require that a further income to the teachers be secured, 
either by local subscriptions or school fees. This rule will be strictly enforced. 

SAr.ARIES PAID TO MONITORS. 

Males and FcynaU's. — For the first year, £\\ for the second year, £5; for the 
third year, £^ ; for the fourth year, £1. 

For the present the number of paid monitors is limited to four males and two 
females in each district, selected from among the best pupils in the national 
schools, and appointed upon the recommendation of the district inspectors. 

When the district model schools are established, candidates for the office of 
paid monitor must undergo a public examination by the inspectors, in a pre- 
scribed course, to be held in those schools. 

GHNERAI, CONDITION'S FOR PROMOTIOKS. 

All newly appointed teachers, who have not previously conducted national 
schools, are considered as Probationers, and must remain as such for at least 
oiie year, at the expiration of which time, they will be eligible for classification,- 
and may be promoted, even before being trained, to any class except ihe first: 
if promoted, they will receive the full amount of salary to which they may become 
enlit'eJ, from th". commcnxmcnt of thi second, year of their service under the Board. 

All teachers must remain at least one year in a lower division of any class, 
before ihey are eligible for promotion to a higher division of the same ; and they 
must remain two years in a lower class before they are eligible for promotion 
to a higher class. 

This regulalion does not apply to probationary teachers, nor to teachers who 
may be promoted on the recommendation of the professors at the termination of 
the course of training. 

None but teachers trained at the Normal School of the commissioners are 
eligible for promotion to am/ division of the first class, and only upon the recom- 
mendation of the professors, or of a board of inspectors. 

Examinations are to be held, at specified times, by the inspectors, with the 
view of promoting meritorious teachers, or of depressing others who may have 
conducted themselves improperly, or in whose schools the attendance has con- 
siderably decreased. 

No teacher vnll be admitted to exam.ina'ion with a vievj to promotion, on whose 
school « decidedly unfavorable report has been made by the district inspector vjithin 
the previous year. 

Teachers will not be eligible for promotion unless, in addition to satisfactory 
answering in the course prescribed for the class to which they aspire, it appears 
from the reports of their respective district inspectors that their schools are pro- 



292 NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS OF IRELAND. 

perly organized and well conducted ; that adequate exertions have been made 
by them to keep up a sufiicient average attendance ; that their junior classes 
are carefully taught, and that a fair proportion of the pupils of the higher 
classes, besides being proficients in the ordinary branches of reading, spelling 
and writing, are possessed of a respectable amount of knowledge in, at least, 
grammar, geography, and arithmetic. In female schools it will be further re- 
quisite that instruction in plain needlework, including sewing, knitting, and 
cutting-out, be given to all girls capable of receiving it, and that they exhibit a 
due proficiency in this department. 

It must also appear from the reports of their inspectors, that their school ac- 
counts have been regularly and correctly kept, that their schools and school 
premises have been preserved with neatness and order, and that cleanliness in 
person and habits has been enforced on the children attending them. 

None can be appointed as assistant teachers whose qualifications are not 
equal to those required of probationers. 

Satisfactory certificates of character and conduct will be required of all can- 
didates. 

SCALE OF PREMIUMS TO THE MASTERS AND MISTRESSES OF NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 

The sum of £10 to be allocated to each of the school districts, to be divided 
into six premiums — one of .£3 ; one of X2 ; two of £1 10s. each, £3; two of .£1 
each, £2.— £10. 

These premiums are to be awarded annually on the recommendation of the 
district inspector, and paid at the end of the year to the masters and mistresses 
who are most distinguished by the order, neatness, and cleanliness observable 
in themselves, their pupils, and in the school-houses. 

No distinction to be made between vested and non-vested schools. 

No teacher eligible for these premiums for more than two years in succession. 

These premiums will be awarded without reference to the class in which the 
teachers may be ranked ; but none will be deemed eligible to receive such pre- 
miums against whom there may be any well-founded charge of neglect in the 
performance of their duties, of impropriety in their conduct, or whose schools 
are not conducted in a satisfactory manner. 



MODEL FARM AND AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL AT GLASNEVIN, 

The follow^ing notice of the Model Farm at Glasnevin, where the 
Normal pupils are required to take practical lessons in agriculture, is 
taken from Colman's " European Agriculture and Rural EconomyP 

"It is considered (by the Commissioners of National Education) and with 
good reason, that the great want, among the people, is a M^ant of knowledge in 
applying and using the means of subsistence within their reach ; that there is no 
indisposition on their part to labor; that there is as yet an ample extent of un- 
cultivated land capable of being redeemed and rendered productive ; and that a 
principal source of the wretchedness, and want, and starvation, which prevail 
m some parts of this country, often to a fearful extent, is attributable to the_ 
gross ignorance of the laboring classes of the best modes of agriculture and of 
rural economy. With this conviction upon their minds, the commissioners 
have determined to connect with all their rural schools a course of teaching in 
scientific and practical agriculture, communicating a knowledge of the simple 
elements of agricultural chemistry; of the best modes and operations of hus- 
bandry which have been adopted in any country ; of the nature, and character, 
and uses, of the vegetables and plants necessary or useful to man or beast ; of 
the improved kinds of live stock, and of the construction and use of the most 
improved and most approved farming implements and machinery. With these 
views, it is their intention to train their schoolmasters, and to send out such 
men as are apt and qualified to teach these most useful branches. For this 
purpose the government have established this model farm, which was begun in 
1838, and which has already, in a greater or less measure, qualified and sent 
out seven hundred teachers." To my mind it seems destined to confer the most 
important benefits upon Ireland, and I may add upon the world ; for so it hap- 



NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS OF IRELAND. £93 

pens under the benignant arrangements of the Divine Providence, the benefits 
of every good measure or effort i'or the improvement of mankind proceed, by a 
sort of reduplication, to an unlimited extent; these teachers shall instruct their 
pupils, and these pupils become in their turn the teachers of others; and the 
good seed, thus sown and widely scattered, go on yielding its constantly-increas- 
ing products, to an extent which no human imagination can measure. Three 
thousand schoolmasters are at this moment demanded for Ireland, and the gov- 
ernment are determined to supply them. Happy is it for a country, and honor- 
able to human nature, when, instead of schemes of avarice, and dreams ol 
ambition, and visions of conquest, at the dreadful expense of the comfort, and 
liberty, and lives, of the powerless and unprotected, the attention of those who 
hold the destinies of their fellow-beings in their hands is turned to their im- 
provement, their elevation, their comfort, and their substantial welfare. 

The Model Farm and Agricultural School is at a place called Glasnevin, 
about three miles from Dublin, on a good soil. The situation is elevated and 
salubrious, embracing a wide extent of prospect of sea and land, of plain and 
mountain, of city and country, combining the busy haunts of men, and the 
highest improvements of art and science, with w^hat is most picturesque and 
charming in rural scenery, presenting itself in its bold mountains and deep 
glens, in its beautiful plantations, its cultivated fields, and its wide and glitter- 
ing expanse of ocean. The scenery in the neighborhood of Dublin, with its 
fertile valleys, and the mountains of Wicklow, of singularly grand and beau liful 
formation, bounding the prospect for a considerable extent, is among the richest 
which the eye can take in ; and at the going down of the sun in a fine summer 
evening, when the long ridge of the mountains seemed bordered with a fringe 
of golden fire, it carried my imagination back, with an emotion which those 
only who feel it can understand, to the most beautiful and picturesque parts of 
Vermont, in the neighborhood of Lake Champlain. I have a strong conviction 
of the powerful and beneficial influence of fine natural scenery, where there is 
a due measure of the endowment of ideality, upon the intellectual and moral 
character ; and I would, if possible, surround a place of education with those 
objects in nature best suited to elevate and enlarge the mind, and stir the soul 
of man from its lowest depths. It is at the shrine of nature, in the temple pil- 
lared by the lofty mountains, and whose glowing arches are resplendent with 
inextinguishable fires, that the human heart is most profoundly impressed with 
the unutterable grandeur of the great object of worship. It is in fields radiant 
with their golden harvests, and every where offering, in their rich fruits and 
products, an unstinted compensation to human toil, and the most liberal provi- 
sions for human subsistence and comfort, and in pastures and groves animated 
with the expressive tokens of enjoyment, and vocal with the grateful hymns of 
ecstacy, among the animal creation, that man gathers up those evidences of 
the faithful, unceasing, and unbounded goodness of the Divine Providence, 
which most deeply touch, and often overwhelm the heart. The Model Farm 
and School, at Glasnevin, has connected with it fifty-two English acres of land, 
the whole of which, with the exception of an acre occupied by the farm build- 
ings, is under cultivation, and a perfect system of rotation of crops. The mas- 
ter of the school pays for this land a rent of five pounds per acre, and taxes and 
expenses carry the rent to eight pounds per acre. Twelve poor boys, or lads, 
live constantly with him, for whose education and board, besides their labor, 
he receives eight shillings sterling per week. They work, as well as I could 
understand, about six hours a day, and devote the rest of the time to study, or 
learning. The course of studies is not extensive, but embraces the most com- 
mon and useful branches of education, such as arithmetic, geography, natural 
philosophy, and agriculture, in all its scientific and practical details. They 
have an agricultural examination, or lecture, every day. I had the gratifica- 
tion of listening to an examination of fourteen of these young. men, brought out 
of the field from their labor; and cheerfully admit that it was eminently suc- 
cessful, and in the highest degree creditable both to master and pupil. Besides 
these young men, who live on the farm, the young men in Dublin, at the Nor- 
mal School, who are preparing themselves for teachers of the national schools, 
are required to attend at the farm and assist in its labors a portion of the time, 
that they may become thoroughly acquainted with scientific and practical agri- 
culture in all its branches, and be able to teach it; the government being deter- 
mined that it shall form an indispensable part of the school instruction through- 

19 



294 NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS OF IRELAND. 

out the island. The great objects, then, of the establishment, are to qualify 
these young men for teachers by a thorough and practical education in the 
science, so far as it has reached that character, and in the most improved 
methods and operations of agriculture. Besides this, it is intended to furnish 
an opportunity to the sons of men of wealth, who may be placed here as pupils, 
to acquire a practical knowledge of and a familiar insight into, all the detail? 
of farming. This must prove of the highest importance to them in the manage- 
ment of their own estates." 

LIST OP LECTURES AT GLASNEVIN. 

1. The rudiments of agricultural chemistry, geology, mineralogy, botany, and 
vegetable physiology, so far as they have a practical application to agriculture. 

2. The nature and improvement of soils. 

3. The nature, properties, and application of the several manures. 

4. The effects of heat, light, and water on soils, manures, animal and veget- 
able life. 

5. The nature, situation, and properties of farms in general. 

6. The proper division of farms, with the crops suitable, according to soil and 
situation. 

7. The situation and construction of farm buildings. 

8. Rotations of crops, fencing and draining, according to the most approved 
principles. 

9. The scientific principles of ploughing, and the general construction and 
use of farm implements. 

10. The cultivation of green and grain crops, proper quantity of seeds, and 
best mode of culture. 

11. Haymaking and harvesting. 

12. Animal physiology and veterinary practice, and general management of 
horses. 

13. Cattle, their several breeds, management, diseases, and modes of cure ; 
also of sheep and swine. 

14. Horse-feeding and fattening of cattle, with the improved modes of dairy 
management. 

15. Practical gardening, under the direction of Mr. Campbell. 

The results of this course of training with the teachers, are best seen 
in the following notice of the National School, at Larne, — an ordinary- 
school in which agricultural chemistry and practical agriculture are pro- 
vided for in the course of study. 

" This is not, properly speaking, an agricultural school, but a national 
school, where the common branches of education are taught; and there is 
connected with it a department or class of agricultural study, and a small piece 
of land, which the boys cultivate, and on which, in the way of experiment, the 
principles of agriculture, and its general practice, are, within a very limited ex- 
tent, illustrated and tested. The examination was eminently successful, and 
creditable alike to the teacher and the pupils. It was from this establishment 
that a detachment of five pupils was sent for examination to the great meeting 
of the Agricultural Society of Scotland the last autumn, where their attainments 
created a great sensation, and produced an impression, on the subject of the im- 
portance of agricultural education, which is likely to lead to the adoption of 
some universal svsiem on the subject. 

I shall transcribe the account given of the occasion: 'Five boys from the 
school at Lame were introduced to the meeting, headed by their teacher. They 
seemed to belong to the better class of peasantry, being clad in homely garbs ; 
and they appeared to be from twelve to fifteen years of age. They were exam- 
ined, in the first instance, by the inspector of schools, in grammar, geography, 
and arithmetic ; and scarcely a single question did they fail to answer correctly. 
Thev were then examined, bv an agricultural pmfessor, in the scientific 
branches, and by two practical farmers in the practical departments of agricul- 
ture. Their acquaintance with these was alike delightful and astonishing. 
They detailed the chemical constitution of the soil and the efiect of manures, 



NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS OF IRELAND. 296 

the land best fitted for green crops, the different kinds of grain, the dairy, and 
the system of rotation of crops. Many of these answers required considerable 
exercise of reflection ; and as previous concert between themselves and the 
gentlemen who examined them was out uf the question, their acquirements 
seemed to take the meeting by surprise ; at the same time they afforded it the 
utmost satisfaction, as evincing how much could be done by a proper system of 
training.' 

I confess the establishment at Larne afforded me, in this respect, very high 
gratification. The agricultural studies are not made compulsory, but voluntary ; 
and one hour per day is devoted to agricultural labor. The Board of Education 
in Ireland have now under their control three thousand teachers; and it is pro- 
posed, wherever it may be deemed useful, to make agriculture a standard branch 
of common school education. They already have seven agricultural training 
establishments ; and it is in contemplation to have twenty-live, with which it is 
proposed shall be connected small model farms, so that every where, besides 
furnishing this most valuable instruction to the pupils of the schools, the farm- 
ers in the vicinity may be excited and instructed to improve their cultivation. 
Thus diffusive is the nature of all beneficence. A good deed, like a stone 
thrown into the water, is sure to agitate the whole mass. Its strongest effects 
will be felt where the blow is given; but the concentric circles are seen extend- 
ing themselves on every side, and reach much farther than the eye can follow 
them. In the moral as well as physical world, the condition of mutual attrac- 
tion and dependence is universal and indissoluble. We have reason to hope 
that no good seed is ever sown in vain, but will sooner or later germinate and 
yield its proper fruits. 

These establishments do certainly the highest honor and credit to the intelli- 
gence and philanthropy of Ireland, and their beneficent effects must presently 
be seen in alleviating the indescribable amount of wretchedness under which this 
beautiful country and fine-spirited people have been so long crushed to the earth 
— a wretchedness which, to be understood, must be seen." 



ENGLAND. 



England is well supplied with institutions for secondary and superior 
education, and for the promotion of science, literature and the arts. The 
ancient endowments of grammar schools, colleges and universities, exceed 
in amount those of any other country, although the institutions are isola- 
ted, independent of popular control, and not subjected to that publicity 
which regular governmental visitation would secure. But there is a dense 
mass of popular ignorance upon which these institutions shed no light, 
except to make the darkness more visible by contrast. The breaking up 
of the old ecclesiastical foundations, and diversions of funds set apart by 
the piety of the Catholic Church in part for charitable and educational 
purposes among the poor, to mere secular and private uses, by Henry VIII. 
and his predecessors, was followed by a rapid development of unrelieved 
pauperism and ignorance. For the support of the poor the State undertook 
to make provision by a system of rates which, combined with the utter 
neglect of elementary institutions having a sound religious basis and 
spirit, that great preventive of pauperism, has filled England with the 
most brutal and ignorant populace in Europe. The charitable bequests of 
individuals, destined to free elementary education, owing to their insuffi- 
cient extent, defective character, and constant abuse, for which tardy and 
expensive appeals to the Court of Chancery afford no relief, scarcely bene- 
fitted the laboring classes of England and Wales, until the attention of 
benevolent and patriotic men was awakened to this subject by a missionary 
spirit towards the close of the last century. 

The Sunday Schools were the first silent but powerful engine employed 
to break into the matted sward of ages of ignorance and degradation, and 
yet these date their establishment in England only from the labors of Ro- 
bert Raikes and Rev. Mr. Stock, at Gloucester, in 1781. The Society for 
the support and management of Sunday Schools throughout the British 
Dominions, was instituted 1785; and the Sunday School Union only in 
1803. 

The day schooling of the same classes is of yet more recent origin ; for 



298 « ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. 

it eamiot date earlier than 1798, when Dr. Bell published his " Experiment 
on Education," made at the Male Asylum at Madras, and Joseph Lancas- 
ter began practically to develop the same principle in the very schools, 
which are now in successful operation in the Borough Road, London. Nor 
was it until 1808 that the British School Society was founded on its pre- 
sent basis, nor until 1811, that the National Society was organized. 

The British and Foreign School Society regard exertion for the Christian 
Education of the children of the poor to be not merely a denominational, 
but a social duty of christian citizens, in which the members of different 
churches are morally bound to corporate to the extent that corporation pro- 
mises to be more efficient than separate action. The introduction of the 
Bible without note or comment in the authorized English version, to the 
exclusion of the formularies of any particular church, has been from the 
first a fundamental rule in all the schools of this Society. 

The National Society, has from the beginning, recognized in its Schools, 
no religious instruction which dispensed with the catechism of the Estab- 
lished Church, to which they have always been an appendage under the 
immediate control of the clergy. 

The establishment of Lifant Schools in 1818, was the next great step in 
the progress of popular education in England, and the organization of the 
"Home and Colonial Infant School Society" in 1836 has given great ex- 
tension to the system of organization, discipline, and modes of instruction 
adapted to very young children. 

The steps taken to improve the training of pauper children (50,000) in 
schools connected with the various workhouses of England, and particu- 
larly in converting these schools into industrial institutions, and the esta- 
blishment of similar institutions by Lady Byron and other benevolent indi- 
viduals, for the reformation of juvenile criminals, has led to many im- 
provements both in the quality and quantity of elementary education in 
schools designed for other classes in the community. 

The opening of Evening Schools and Ragged Schools in Aberdeen, Lon- 
don, and other large cities and manufacturing villages of England and 
Scotland for neglected, vagrant and vicious children, in 1841, mark a new 
era in popular education in England. 

But the most important event in the history of Education in England 
was the appropriation by Parliament of the .sum of £20,000 in 1831, in 
aid of the British and Foreign School Society. 

In 1839, the Government undertook the administration of this grant 
through the Committee of Council. It was increased annually in amount, 
— ^voluntary efforts for the extension of education to meet the public grants 
being greatly increased by this offer of assistance, — but it continued to be 
limited to the original object of the building of schools, until the year 
1846. Under the authority of a minute of Council of that date, it was 
then applied to various other objects. * 

* The following account is taken from a recent number of the Edinburgh Review. 



ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. 



2yy 



What — and how extensive — these measures of Government for the ad- 
vancement of education really are, is not; sve believe, generally known; 
we have therefore collected the following particulars in respect to them 
from the volume of Minutes for the years 1848-9-50, which is now before 
us. They appear to be framed with a due regard to the rights of conscience 
and the diversities of religious opinion ] and, with a wise and statesman- 
like precaution on the part of the Government, to avail itself of local sym- 
pathies, and to stimulate voluntary contributions. 

1. Aid is offered by these minutes towards the erection of school build- 
ings ; and since the year 1839 Government has contributed under this 
head an aggregate sum of £470,854, towards the erection of 3782 school- 
houses, drawing out, thereby, voluntary contributions to, probably, four 
times that amount, and affording space for the instruction of 709,000 more 
children than could before be taught. These grants have been distributed 
as follows : — 





Amount of 
Grant. 


Number of 
Schools aided. 


Number of Children 

for whom 

Accommodation is 

Provided. 


England 


£399,368 

41,563 

27,418 

2,505 


3255 
302 
198 

27 


622,823 

47,814 

33,198 

5,165 


Scotland 

Wales 


The Islands 



Eighty-two per cent, of the whole amount granted under this head has 
been paid to Church-of-England schools. 

2. Aid is offered toward the erection of normal schools for the training 
of teachers or for the improvement of the buildings of such schools ; and the 
total amount thus gra,nted in aid of eighteen normal scliools, is £66,450; 
of which £35,950 is to the Church of England; £13,000 to the British 
and Foreign School Society and the Wesleyan body ; and the rest to the 
Scotch Church. 

3. Aid is offered towards the maintenarice of such students in these nor- 
mal schools, as shall appear, on examination, to possess the qualities and 
attainments likely to make them good teachers, in sums varying from £20 
to £30 annually for each student. The total sums so contributed to thirteen 
training schools were, in the year 1847, £1705 ; in 1848, £2138; inl849, 
£2373. 

4. Annual grants are paid in augmentation of the salaries of such teach- 
ers of elementary schools as, upon examination, have been judged worthy 
to receive certificates of merit, such certificates being of three different 
classes, and the augmentations varying from £15 to £30. The number of 
teachers so certificated is 681, and the total amount payable annually in 
augmentation of their salaries £6133. 

5. Stipends are allowed to apprentices to the office of teacher, increasing 
during the five years of their apprenticeship frorii £10 to £18. The num- 
ber of schools in which such apprentices have been appointed being 1361. 
and the number of apprentices, 3581. 

6. Provision is made for the instruction of these apprentices by annual 
payments to the teachers to whom they are apprenticed, being at the rate 
of £5 annually for one, and £4 for every additional apprentice, their com- 
petency to instruct them being tested by annual examinations. The sums 
payable under the three last heads are stated in the following table :— ■ 



300 



ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. 



Denomination of School. 


Number 
of 

Schools. 


Number 
of (Jer- 
tiflcjited 
Teachers. 


Number of Apprentices. 


Amount condi- 
tiunally award- 
id for year end- 
ing 31 Oct. 1850. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Total. 


National, or Church of 
England Schools. . 

British, Wesleyan,and 
other Protestant 
Schools, not con- 
nected with the 
Church of England, 

Rom. Catli. Schools . . 

Schools in Scotland, 
connected with the 
established Church, 

Schools in Sccjtland, 
not connected with 
the Estab. Church. 

Total 


973 

181 
32 

82 

93 


482 

69 
10 

39 

81 


1,638 

434 
46 

161 

100 


910 

159 
33 

28 

27 


2,593 

593 

79 

189 
127 


£ s. d. 
49,472 10 

10,356 10 
1,323 10 

3,492 

3,467 


1,361 


681 


'2,424 


1,157 sjisi ! 6S m in nl 








1 



7. They offer supplies of books, apparatus, and school fittings, at redu- 
ced rates, the reduction being effected by the purchase of large quantities 
at wholesale prices ; and by grants to the extent of one-third of these 
reduced prices. The total reduction thus effected averages sixty-two per 
cent, on the retail price : and, the total amount of the grants so made by the 
Government being £6664, it is probable that the retail price of the books, 
maps. &c.. so distributed, is not less than £17.500. 

8. They provide for the annual inspection of normal schools, and of all 
elementary schools in which apprentices are appointed, or vrhich arc taught 
by certificated teachers. Also for the annual examination of apprentices 
and of candidates for the office of apprentice, and of teachers who are can- 
didates for certificates of merit. 

For this purpose they maintain a staff of twenty-one inspectors of schools, 
— of whom eleven are inspectors of church schools; two of British and 
Foreign, and Dissenters' schools ; and two of Scotch schools ; one of Ro- 
man Catholic, and five of Workhouse schools. The cost of this inspection, 
in 1849, for salaries and travelling expenses, was £16.826. The schools 
at present liable to inspection are 12 normal schools, 4296 elementary 
schools, and about 700 workhouse schools. 

The general result of this action of the Government on the education of 
the country, in respect to quantity^ may be gathered from the fact, that in 
the ten years from 1837 to 1847, the number of children under education in 
Church schools had increased from 558,180 to 955,865, being an increase 
of eight elevenths. 

It was not, however, so much in respect to the quantity of the education 
of the country, as in regard to its quality, that an alteration was needed : 
and it is in this respect that most has been done. The two questions of 
quality and quantity have, however, a relation to one another, for a good 
school is ahnost always a full one. This relation of the number of the 
scholars to the quality of the school is strikingly illustrated in the returns 
made from schools in which certificated teachers and apprentices have been 
appointed, and which are, therefore, regularly inspected. These schools 
may be reasonably supposed to have improved from year to year : and it 
appears that the numbers of children who attend them have, in like man- 
ner, steadily advanced. In the first year after these measures came into 



ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. 30 { 

operation, 1847-8, the total number liad tiais increased 74'5 per cent. ; iji 
the second year, 16' 66 percent. No third year's apprenticeships are yet 
completed. 

The whole question of the quality of the instruction, after all that regu- 
lations can do, will be found to be involved in the character of the teacher ; 
for such as is the teacher, such invariably is the school. The first step 
towards the formation of a more efficient body of teachers was taken by 
Sir J. P. Kay Shuttleworth and ]Mr. E. Carleton Tuflnell, when, in the 
year 1840, they founded a school at Battcrsea for training Masters for the 
schools of paupet* children. — maintaining it at their private cost, aided by 
some of their friends. That no personal exertions might be wanting to its 
success, Sir J. P. Kay Shuttleworth went to reside in it; adding to his 
duties as Secretary to the Committee of Council on Education the cares 
and difficulties of a position, in which, surrounded by youths but recently 
the inmates of Avorkhouses, he sought to lay the foundation of a new and 
improved state of education throughout tlie country. This lionoraido ex- 
ample of private benevolence has been followed by various public bodies. 
The National Society soon afterwards establislied St. Mark's College, Chel- 
sea, — an institution for the training of a superior class of Church school- 
masters, — and Whiteland's House School, for the training of mistresses: 
And within four years of that time there had sprung up no less than seven- 
teen diocesan schools for the training of teachers of Church schools. Tliese 
are now increased to twenty, of which Chester, York, Durham, Chelten- 
ham, and Caermarthen are the principal. The Battersea school having 
been transferred to the National Society in 1844, there are now twenty- 
three or twenty-four training schools in the country for the education of 
Church schoolmasters. 

The existence of these training schools, the people of England and the 
Church of England owe to the Committee of Council. Their importance 
is not to be measured by the amount of good they have been able up to this 
time to do, or are now doing. They are poorly supported : the number of 
students who attend them is small, not exceeding in the whole from four to 
five hundred, and the education pursued in them at present appears to be 
but imperfectly adapted to the formation of the character of the teacher. 
But our conception of that character is as yet very imperfect in England: 
and in all that concerns the formation and development of it, we have no 
experience to guide us. Each of the training schools admits of develop- 
ment; and the State would do well to lend its aid to this end with a more 
liberal hand (we should say a less sparing hand) than it has hitherto at- 
tempted ; — respecting, as far as is consistent with guarantees for the proper 
application of its aid, the independence of each, and allowing them to 
manifest themselves under that distinctive character towards which they 
may severally tend. Each, taken with its individuality, might thus become 
a depositary of local educational sympathies and a centre of local action. 
And looking to the progress which the whole question of education is mak- 
ing, and to the fact that, whenever the country is properly supplied with 
parish schools, not less than 2000 students will, probably, require to ba 
kept within the walls of these training schools to supply the vacancies for 
teachers which will annually arise in Church schools alone, there can be no 
doubt of the importance of this part of the system. 

Far more important, however, than any aid which the Government has 
yet given to the establishment and maintenance of training schools, is that 
which it has rendered in providing that candidates shall be properly edu- 
cated and prepared for admission to them. Nothing has so interfered with 
the success of such institutions as the impossibility of finding a sufficient 
number of qualified candidates. The office of the national schoolmaster is 



302 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. 

but little in repute ; and but few persons have, hitherto, been accustomed 
to seek it, except such as, for the want of sufficient ability, or energy, or 
industry, have been unsuccessful in other callings, or who labor under 
infirm liealth or bodily deformities. These were considered indeed good 
enougli for the purpose ; until that inveterate prejudice was got rid of, that 
education is a privilege of men's social condition, and to be graduated 
according to it. It is a legitimate deduction from this principle, that a 
teacher of the lowest standard in attainments and skill is competent to the 
instruction of children of the lowest class. The converse proposition is to 
rule the future of education. The education of those children who are the 
most degraded, intellectually and morally, being the most difficult task, — is 
to have the highest qualities of the teacher brought to bear upon it. 

The three or four thousand pupil teachers, having been selected as the 
most promising children in the schools in which they have been brought up, 
and having been apprenticed to the work of the school for five years, and 
educated under the careful superintendence of the clergy and the inspec- 
tors of schools, will when they have completed their apprenticeship, pre- 
sent themselves for admission to the training schools. So selected and so 
trained from an early age, they cannot fail, after two or three years' resi- 
dence in them, to form a body of teachers such as have never before entered 
the field of elementary education in England. The worst training of the 
normal schools cannot mar this result j and we have reason to hope for the 
best. This, then, is the bright future of education. If the apprenticeship 
of new pupil teachers is continued at the same rate as heretofore, from 1000 
to 1500 v/ill annually complete their apprenticeship ; and nearly as many 
will complete annually their training in the normal schools ; so that nearly 
that number of teachers will every year be prepared to enter on the charge 
of elementary schools. 

The following are the conditions annexed to grants : — 

1 . In respect to grants for the building of schools, it is stipulated that 
the site shall be legally conveyed to trustees, to be used for ever for the 
purposes of a school. 

2. That the buildings should be substantial and well adapted to the uses 
of a school. 

3. That the State, by its inspector, shall have access to the school, to 
examine and report whether the instruction of the children is duly cared for. 

4. To tliese conditions there have been added, since the year 1848, cer- 
tain others, well known as ' the Management Clauses ;' having for their 
object to secure to the laity, in all practicable cases, what appears to be a 
due share in the management of the schools. 

5. To grants for the augmentation of teachers' salaries, and for the sti- 
pends of pupil teacher.^, it is made a condition that certain examinations 
shall be passed, the subjects of examination being specified beforehand. 
These subjects include, with secular instruction, a detailed course of ele- 
mentary leligious instruction, to be conducted in Church schools in strict 
accordance with the formularies of the Church of England. 

6. To grants for apparatus and books, no other conditions are annexed 
than that the Committee of Council shall be certified on the report of one 
of its inspectors, that the assistance is needed ; that the books and appara- 
tus sought are proper to the use of the school ; and that the teachers are 
competent to make the proper use of them. 

These measures of the Committee of Council appear excellently calcu- 
lated to promote the interests of education. But the best measures depend 
for their success upon their execution ; and these have been so adminis- 
tered as to secure the cordial acceptance of the various parties locally 
interested in schools. 



NORMAL SCHOOL 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL SOCIJBTY, BOROUGH ROAD, LONDON. 



The following account of the Borough Road Normal School of the Bri- 
tish and Foreign School Society is compiled from a report of Joseph Flet- 
cher, Esq., one of her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, to the Committee of 
Council on Education, submitted April 7, 1847, and from documents pub- 
lished in the Annual Pucports of the Society. 

The Normal establishment of the British and Foreign School Society is 
situated in Borough .R.oad, at the corner of Great Union Street, London, and 
consists of two Normal Schools, one for male, and tlie other for female 
teachers, and two large model schools, one for boys and the other for girls, 
in which one thousand pupils are daily under instruction, on the monitorial 
system. These latter schools, while incidentally benefiting the neighbor- 
hood in which they are situated, are mainly sustained for the purpose of 
exhibiting in actual practice the most improved methods of instruction, and 
as a means of training in the art of teaching, and in the management of 
children the various classes of persons who enter the institution for this 
purpose. This was the leading object of the school, the nucleus of the 
present establishment, originally organized by Joseph Lancaster, near the- 
present site, in 1798. At first it was attempted to raise a number of moni- 
tors into pupil teachers, and in 1805 the .sum of S400 v^^as raised, by dona- 
tions, expressly as a capital "for training school mastens" by boarding 
youths of the right character, at the institution. This was the germ of all 
subsequent normal schools for training elementary teachers in England. The 
attempt to erect a plain building to accomodate the young men and lads, 
whom Mr. Lancaster undertook to qualify for schoolmasters, led to a series 
of embarrassments, from which he was relieved in 1808 by the generous 
subscription of Joseph Fox, and others, who organized, for this purpose, (in- 
cluding the King and Royal Family.) an association called the '• Ptoyal Lan- 
casterian Institution for promoting the Education of the Poor," which was 
afterwards changed to the " British and Foreign School Society," as more 
descriptive of its widening aim and influence. Regarding the instruction 
of the people as a national object, it has always maintained that it ought 
to be treated nationally, as belonging to towns rather than to churches, to 
districts rather than to congregations. So early as 1808 the cardinal object 
of the society is thus set forth in one of its rules. 

The institution sliull maintain a school on an extensive scale to educate children- 
It shall support and train up young persons of both sexes for supplying properly, 
instructed teachers to the inhabitants of such places in tlie British dominions, at 
home and abroad, as shall be desirous of estal^lishing schools on the British system. 
It sliall instruct all persons, whether natives or foreigners, who may be sent from 
time to time for the purpose of being qualified as teachers in this or any other 
country. 

Every year, from the enactment of»this rule, persons were admitted to the 
school for a longer or a shorter period of time, to observe, learn, and prac- 
tice the methods of classification and instruction pursued therein. In 1818, 
forty-four teachers were trained, and subsequently recommended to schools; 
in 1828, the number had increased to eighty-seven; in 1838, it amounted 
to one hundred and eighty-three, and in 1846, it was over two hundred. 



306 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

The committee of the society were painfully conscious that many teachers 
who resorted to the school, were but poorly prepared in energy of charac- 
ter, tact, and christian spirit, to make good teachers; or if qualified in these 
respects, would stay long enough in training to acquire the requisite attain- 
ment and practical skill. " For such persons a period of tioo years, rather 
than three months^ is required; and until this can be afforded, the quality 
* of the instruction imparted in country schools, must of necessity be very 
unsatisfactory. Tn the absence of better provision, however, these conside- 
rations only enhance the importance of that which has been already affec- 
ted ; and aiford additional reasons for sustaining and enlarging, as far as 
may be practicable, the facilities which are now afforded by your training 
department for the preparation of teachers." 

In 1849', the Committee of Council on Education was formed, and in the 
course of the year, they proffered to both the National Society, and the 
British and Foreign School Society, a grant of £5000 towards the erection 
of two Normal Schools. This society therefore resolved to improve an 
opportunity wliich presented itself for the purchase of land adjoining to 
their premises in the Borough lload ; and having obtained from the Corpo- 
ration of the City of London an extension of the ground lease, which was 
cheerfully accorded on the most liberal terms, they determined to erect, 
thereupon, buildings capable of accommodating at least sixty resident can- 
didates, together with libraries and lecture-rooms sufficiently extensive for 
the instruction of a much larger number, so that fifty or sixty more may, if 
it should be found desirable, lodge and board in the neighborhood, and 
attend as out-door pupils. 

The new normal schools were completed in 1842, at an expense of 
£21,433 7s. 9d. defrayed by £.5000 from Government, £1000 from the 
Corporation of London, £14.716 10s. lOd. from the friends of the institu- 
tion generally, £276 15s. an offering from British School teachers who had 
been trained in it, and the remaining £440 Is. lid., from the sale of old 
materials. The new buildings were opened on the 29th of June in tlic 
same year, when Lord John Russell presided at an examination of the 
model schools, and a report was read, which concluded by saying that, 
"■ To state in detail the precise course of instruction to be pursued in this 
new building, would as yet be premature. It may at present be sufficient 
to state, that it is intended that the course of instruction shall be A'cry con- 
siderably enlarged, that additional teachers shall be engaged, that the time 
now devoted by candidates to preparatory training, shall be extended to the 
utmost practicable limit, that facilities shall be afforded for the attendance 
and instruction of the teachers of country schools, during a portion of their 
vacations, and that, as heretofore, every improvement in education which 
may be introduced either at home or abroad, shall receive immediate atten- 
tion, be fairly subjected to the test of experiment, and if found really valu- 
able, at once adopted." 

This great establishment is divided into two entirely distinct portions, 
forming respectively the male and female departments ; the former occu- 
pying the eastern, and the latter the western portion of the buildings, be- 
tween which there is no direct means of communication whatever, except 
by a private door, opened once a-day, to permit the young women to take 
their seats in the back part of the theatre, during the daily conversational 
lecture of the principal of the normal, school on the art of teaching and 
governing in a school. Each department, again, has its respective normal 
and model school ; and each of the normal schools is divided into two 
classes, forming respectively the senior and junior divisions of the young 
persons und ertraining. The whole is under the constant general super- 
vision of the Committees, meeting on the premises, and of the Secretaryj 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 307 

resident in them ; but the whole of their active management devolves upon 
the officers hereinafter named. 

The following are considered as the general and primary qualifications 
REQUIRED IN ALL CANDIDATES, whether male or female : — 

1. Religious Principle. — Whilst the Committee -would disclaim anything approaching to a 
sectarian spirit, they consider it indispensable that persons to whom the moral and religious in- 
struction of youth is confided should exemplify in their lives the Christian character, and be con- 
scientiously concerned to train up their youthful charge ''in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord." In requiring the most explicit testimonials on this important point, the Committee feel 
that they are only fulfilling the wishes of their constituents ; an opinion which is confirmed by 
the fact, that in almost all the applications they receive for teachers, it is expressly stipulated 
that they must be persons of decided piety, and that no others will be accepted. 

2. Activity and Energy. — These are essential. 

An indolent or inactive person can never make an efficient schoolmaster or schoolmistress. 
The arrangements of a school on the British system, when well conducted, considerably diminish 
the amount of labor required from the teacher ; but it is a system which peculiarly demands live- 
liness and activity both of body and mind. 

3. A competent share of Talent and Information. —The Committee have no desire to change 
in any respect the great principle on which they first set out — that of imparting to the laboring 
classes elementary instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic ; but the present state of socie- 
ty requires that a teacher should possess the ability to give instruction in higher branches of 
knowledge. Indeed, if teachers are to exercise any valuable influence over their pupils, they 
must themselves be intelligent ; they must be able to inform and interest children generally, and 
to draw out and strengthen their feeble powers. 

In addition to these qualifications, the Committee esteem it desirable that the candidate should 
possess kindness, and great firmness of mind, combined with good temper ; in short, those dispo- 
sitions of heart which gain so much on the affections of the young. The age of the applicant 
should not be less than twenty, nor more than thirty ; and all candidates receive the following 
'■ general notices :'' — 

1. Candidates received into the Institution on the reduced terms, are understood to pledge 
themselves to act (as far as practicable) on the great leading principles adopted by the Society. 

'2. Candidates who do not subject the Society to any cost on their behalf, are considered at lib- 
erty to engage themselves as teachers of schools connected with other educational bodies, or at- 
tached to particular denominations of Christians. 

3. All persons, on completing the term for which they are accepted, must withdraw from the 
Institution ; and (if candidates for schools under the Society) must reside with their friends until 
suitable openings occur. 

Normal School for Young Men. 
The officers of the male department are, for the 

Normal School — A Principal — Vice-Principal and Teacher of Drawing 
and Music. 

Model School. — A Superintendent and Assistant. 
Household. — A Curator and Housekeeper. 

The domestic arrangements (subject to the oversight of a sub-Committee) 
are placed under the care of the housekeeper and the curator. 

The duty of the housekeeper is to direct and control all matters relating 
to the board and lodging of the young men. She is required to provide 
the requisite food, to engage the domestic servants, and to secure at all 
times order, cleanliness, and punctuality in those portions of the establish- 
ment which fall under her supervision. All accounts of disbursements 
are transmitted to the accountant for examination monthly. 

The duty of curator embraces all matters connected with the daily and 
hourly supervision of the students, and the maintenance of order, cleanli- 
ness, and harmony throughout the establishment. He is — ■ 

1. To keep a record of all persons entering or leaving the establishment, or attending any of 
the classes. 

2. To see that all the rooms used by the students, or their teachers, are always clean, and well 
ventUated. 

3. To preside with the housekeeper at all meals ; to conduct family reading morning and even- 
ing ; and to be responsible for the adherence of every student to all the regulations laid down for 
his guidance while in the institution. 

He is further to give a daily written report to the secretary, whose private 
apartments, though distinct from the general establishment, are within the 
building, and through whom, in case of irregularity, appeal can at once be 
made to the Committee. 



308 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

The dietary provided for the students is plain, but varied, substantial, 
and abundant 

A medical practitioner, residing in the immediate neighborhood, is called 
in (free of cost to the student) on the first appearance of indisposition. 

There are dormitories in the male department for only 45 students ; 27 
in separate rooms, and 18 in nine larger rooms, with two beds in each. The 
remainder of the 66 pupils in this department, on the day of my general 
examination, were occupying apartments in the neighborhood, in houses 
of respectability, in which it is proposed that hereafter they sha] 1 be hired 
for them by the officers of the Institution. All, however, board in the 
house. The principal and vice-principal of the normal school and the 
superintendent of the model school are respectively charged with the proper 
occupation of the students' time, according to the Tables hereafter given; 
and at all intervening periods their employments are under the general 
superintendence of the curator, who marks lists to check their employment 
of the time assigned to private study, whether individually or under mutual 
monitors, and has charge of the manners and conduct of the young men 
generally, enlisting the aid of the two senior students for the time being. 
The young men perform no household services, beyond cleaning their ovm 
shoes and brushing their own clothes; for the time of their stay is too short 
to justify the sacrifice of any portion of it to industrial occupations. In- 
deed, most of them have already had a complete course of industrial edu- 
cation in the trades and occupations from which they have respectively 
come. 

Rules t& which every Student is expected rigidly to conform. 

1. Relating to Sleeping Apartments : — 1. To rise every morning at 6 o'clock when the bell 
rings. 

2. Before leaving the room to uncover the bed-clothes, and to see that all books, articles of dress, 
Sec, are placed in the drawers. For every article found in the room a fine will be enforced. 

3. On no occasion whatever, without special permission, to have a candle, match, or other light 
in tlie room. (As the violation of this rule will endanger the safety of the building, any oiiender 
will be specially reported to the Committee, and probably directed to leave the institution.) 

4. Every student is to confine himself to his own bed-room, and to have no communication with 
any other, conversation not being allowed after retiring for the night. 

5. All washing and cleaning the person to be performed in the respective rooms ; the troughs 
on the landing never to be used for that purpose. 

6. The bed-rooms to be finally vacated for the day at five minutes to nine, and under no pre- 
tence whatever is any student to visit them again until bed-time. At no period will he be allowed 
to go up stairs in shoes worn during the day. 

II. Relating to the Classes: — 1. To be present in the school of design at half-past 6 o'clock 
in the morning to answer to the roll, and then to proceed to the classes. 

2. To be present at the additional roll-calls at the undermentioned times, viz., five minutes to 
aine, five minutes to two, and half-past nine in the evening. 

3. To attend all the classes during the day at the precise time. From twelve to one to be in- 
•fariably devoted to exercise in the open air. If no letters or parcels have to be delivered, the time 
to be occupied in walking out. 

4. From half-past eight to half-past nine in the evening to be devoted to the preparations of 
the studies. The students who have finished will be required to maintain order and silence, that 
no interruption may be occasioned to those who are studying. 

III. Relating to Bleals : — 1. To be ready for breakfast punctually at a quarter past eight ; 
dinner at a quarter past one ; tea at a quarter pasf five ; and supper at half-past eight ; at which 
hours the bell will ring. 

2. On entering ihe dining-room for any meal, every student to remain standing in his place 
until the housekeeper and curator have entered and taken their seats; and on the housekeeper 
rising to leave the room (which sign indicates the conclusion of the meal), every student will be 
expected to rise, and the one nearest to the door to open it. 

3. During meals no reading will be aillowed ; silence must be observed, and the strictest pro- 
priety of behavior maintained, rudeness, selfish eagerness to be assisted before others, or indecorum 
of any kind, will be noticed, and expose the parties to merited rebuke. 

IV. Relating to other Periods of Time: — 1. No singing, loud talking, or unnecessary noise 
in the passages, or in any part of the building, will be tolerated. No throwing of ink, or other 
careless or filthy habit, will on any account be suffered. Parties offending will be specially re- 
ported to the Committee. 

2. No book, paper, article of dress or of other use, will be allowed, under any pretext, to lie 
about any of the rooms or passages ; a place being appointed for everything, everything must be 
in its place. For every offence a fine will be enforced, and the article detained until it is paid. 

3. No student is to be absent from the premises without the permission of the curator, or (if m 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 309 

class: hours) of the teacher of the diss from •which he wishes to be absent ; and he is never to ht 
out later than half-past nine. 

4. On Sunday he will be expected to attend twice at his accustomed place of worship, and to 
spend the remainder of the day in quietness and propriety. 

5. Never to enter the depository except on business. 

In order to carry the above regulations into effect the curator is strictly charged by the Com- 
mittee to impound all articles left about, and on no account to return ihem to the owners without 
payment of the fine ; and, further, never to allow any violation of these rules to pass without 
severe rebuke. 

As, however, many offences may be committed where the guilty party cannot be discovered, 
the two senior students (for the time being) will be held responsible for all such misdemeanors. 
If injury be done to any part of the rooms, or unnecessary dirt brought in, it will be their duty to 
find out and report on the offender ; in which case he will be required to remove or repair it. 

All fines to be spent in books for the library. 

Th6 following is the official outline of the Normal School of Young 
Men : — 

I. Persoiis eligible. — Subject to the general qualifications already enumerated, five classes of 
persons are eligible for admission. 

Class A. — Young men desirous of becoming teachers, who wish to be introduced to a school by 
the Committee, and are prepared to remain in the institution twelve months. 

Class B. — Young men desirous of becoming teachers, who wish to be introduced to a school by 
the Committee, but are unable to remain longer than six months. 

Class C. — Youths and other persons who desire to adopt the profession of a teacher, but wish 
subsequently to be at their own disposal. These are considered as private teachers, and are re- 
quired to pay the fees attached to each class. 

Class D. — Teachers elected to schools, or already conducting them, but desirous of attending, for 
some limited period, any of the classes, with a view to farther improvement. 

Class E . — Missionaries or other persons proceeding abroad, with a view to the promotion of 
education in foreign parts. 

//. Times of Admission. — Class A. — January and July. 

Class B. — January, April, July, and October. 

Classes C, D, and E. — Monthly, by special correspondence with the Secretary. 

Classes A and B are expected to board iif the establishment. Reduced charge, 6s. a week ; the 
whole sum to be paid in advance. 

Class C cannot be admitted to board or lodge. They must also pay in advance the fee required 
on entering each class. 

Classes I) and E may be admitted to board by special arrangement. 

III. Mode of Jlpjpti cation. — The first step to be taken by the candidate is to write a letter to 
the Secretnri/, stating briefly his age, slate of health., and present employment ; also ivkether he 
is married or single, and, if married, ivhat family he has. 

Secondly, he should mention, generally, the amount of his attainments, and state the length of 
time he could devote to the work of preparation. 

Thirdly, whether he has had any practice in communicating instruction to children, either in 
day or Sunday schools ; whether he has ever been engaged in benevolent efforts for the improve- 
ment of the poor ; and whether he has been in the habit of attending any means of general or 
religious instruction beyond the ordinances of public worship. 

This letter, which should be as brief as circumstances will admit, should be accompanied by 
explicit testimonials from the clergyman or minister of the church or congregation with which 
the candidate may be connected, and from one or more persons to whom he may be known, as to 
his possession of the qualifications already mentioned as indispensable. 

On receipt of these communications, the Secretary will bring the application before the Com- 
mittee at their first meeting, and afterwards communicate further with the candidate. 

The sub-Committee appointed to investigate the testimonials of candidates meets at the house 
of the Institution, in the Borough Road, on the first Monday in every month, at 10 o'clock in the 
forenoon 

If the candidate reside in or near London, he should attend the Committee at this time, but not 
unless he /tas had on some previous day a personal interview with the Secretary. 
■ Supposing the Committee to be satisfied with the letter and testimonials, the candidate will be 
informed when he is to present himself for preliminary examination, on the following points : — 

1. As to his Health. — It will be required that persons admitted into the Institution shall be in 
good health, and free from any serious physical defect ; and that they shall either have had the 
small-pox or have been vaccinated. 

2. As to the Amount of his Knowledge. — He must read fluently and without unpleasant 
tones ; he must write a fair hand, spell correctly, be well acquainted with the first four rules of 
arithmetic, and have some general acqtiaintanee with geography and history. 

If the result of this examination be on the whole satisfactory, the candidate (having paid the 
amount required) receives a certificate, on delivery of which to the Curator he is presented with a 
copy of the rules of the establishment, and either received into the house or introduced to the 
classes he wishes to attend. If the result be unsatisfactory, a written report to that effect is 
made to the Secretary, who will then communicate with the Committee, and with the candidate 
or his friends 

By these preliminary inquiries and investigations, it is hoped that in the majority of cases 
subsequent disappointmept may be prevented ; but as it is impossible to decide, ■prior to actual 
experiment, whether any person has or has not that peculiar tact in the management and control 
of children, and those powers of arrangement, as applied to numbers, withou' which no teacher 
can successfully carry out the combinations of a British school, — every candidate is required to 



giQ BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

bold himself ready Ic withdraw from ihe Institution should he be found thoroughly deficient in 
the art of managing, interesting, and controlling children. 

The Committee do not in any case pledge themselves to furnish candidates with situations ; 
but as hitherto they have been in the habit of receiving applications for teachers from the numer- 
ous friends of education in diiferent part.s of the country, they have reason to hope that it 
will generally be in their power to recommend the candidates they may train to parties thus 
applying. 

IV. — Vacations. — Midsummer. — Four weeks from the Friday preceding Midsunmier day. 

Christmas. — One week from the Friday preceding Christmas-day. 

Easter. — From the Thursday preceding (jood Friday to the Wednesday in the ensuing week. 

At the Midsummer vacation every student is req^uired to leave the Institution, and to provide 
himself with board and lodging during that period. 

V. — Table of Classes. — Class I. — Grammar and English Composilion : — Students of Six 
Months. — A course of English Grammar, including the chief roots (especially the Anglo-Saxon,) 
and derivatives of the language. Composition. — Forms of letters, notes, &,c. Abstracts of re- 
marks and lectures will be looked over, with a view to the correction of errors in orthography or 
composition. 

Students of Twelve Months. — An extended course in the construction of the English language. 
So much of comparative grammar as may be understood by those assumed to know only one lan- 
guage. Co>nposition. — A systematic course. Essays on some branches of teaching. 

Class 11. — Elocution : Readings in Prose and Poetry : — In this class the pieces read are selec-, 
ted from the Third Lesson Book, and are accompanied by systematic interrogation from the notes. 
The pupils are also required to interrogate one another. 

Class III. — Arithmetic and Mathematics .-—This class includes — 

1. Arithmetic. — Principles from De Morgan. 

2. Geometry. — Books ii. iii. iv. v. vi. of Euclid's Elements. 

3. Elements of algebra and trigonometry. 

Class IV. — Model Lessons in Natural Philosophy, Natural History, Botany, and Chemis- 
try : — The object of these lessons (which, with the aid of suitable books of reference, are prepared 
by the pupils before breakfast) is twofold ; first, to render them sufficiently acquainted with the 
various subjects treated in the Fourth Lesson Book, to enable them to teach that book intelligently; 
and, secondly, to exhibit to the tutor the extent of their knowledge, and the degree of ability pos- 
sessed for imparting the same to children. The instruction given in natural philosophy is of a 
popular kind, suited to the acquirements of students, some of whom may be acquainted only with 
the elementary parts of pure mathematics. 

Class V. — Art of Teaching. — This class, at which all the teachers in training (both male and 
female) are required to attend, is held in the lecture-room of the institution. 

The time is occupied in criticism on the gallery lesson of the day, in a conversational lectuie 
on some topic connected with the principles or practice of teaching, and in the examination of 
written notes. 

The course consists of 60 lectures, and is completed in 12 weeks. 

Class VI. — Practical Simultaneous Lessons. — This class (at which all attend) is conducted in 
the gallery class-rooms, where the teachers in turn are required to give collective lessons ; after 
which, the criticisms of the teachers who have been spectators are required to be given in the leo- 
ture-room. The tutor then comments on various defects and merits in the lessons. 

Class VII. — Bible Lesson — This class is conducted in the model school, each teacher being re- 
quired to instruct and question a draft of 10 or 12 children, on a given subject, under the inspec- 
tion of the tutor and the superintendent of the school. 

Class VIII. — School of Design. — This class is separated into two divisions, upper and lovrer. 
In the upper, drawing is taught, in the following order : — 

1. Maps and charts. 

2. Machinery ) 

3. Architecture V with and without models. 

4. Figures and landscapes J 

In the lower division, writing is taught, and then simple geometrical figures, and outlines of 
maps. 

Class IX. — Geography and History. — Geography. — Geography of the chief countries of the 
globe, including their main natural features, towns, manufactures, government, population, and 
social condition. Connexion between the political and physical geography of countries. Lead- 
ing features of mathematical geography. 

Hisloiy. — General history, ancient and modern. 

Class X. — Arithmetic (Lower Class). 

Arithmetic. — Written and mental. 

Geometry. — A course of practical geometry. The first book of Euclid's Elements. 

Mensuration. — An elementary course. 

Class XI. — Elements of Physics. — This class is simply intended to furnish the required infor- 
mation for the ordinary teaching of the Fourth Lesson Book. 

Class XII. — Vocal Music. — This class is maintained by a separate voluntary subscription, and 
attendance is optional on the part of the students. The methods and books both of Mr. Hickson 
and Hullah are adopted. 

**;* The books required for each class, which are few and inexpensive, must be purchased by 
the student. 

y I. —Examinations. — Weekly Exa?ninaM'o)is.— Every candidate will undergo a strict exa- 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 311 

micatioii as to thfi amount of work performed during each week : he is required to record in a 
journal his labors and progress ; and it is then ascertained, by a series of questions, whether thai 
which lie supposes himself to have acquired be thoroughly understood and digested. He is also, 
examined as to the mode in which he would communicate to others the knowledge he has gained. 

Half-Yearly Examinations : — 

Examiners. — Professor —Coll. 

Professor Coll. 

Certifieates of proficiency will be granted at the discretion of the examiners. 

Any schoobiiaster who has been instructed by the Society, or who may be engaged in conducting 
any school in connexion with it, may (by previous notice to tiie Secretary) offer himself for exam- 
ination, in order to obtain a certificate of proticiency. 

The lower class examination will embrace — 

Reading; writing; arithmetic (written and mental ;) grarmiiar ; geography: E nglish history ; 
knowledge of the Scriptures ; elements of geometry, drawing, and music ; and the art of teaching. 

The higher class (in addition) practical geometry ; mensuration ; the elements of algebra and 
trigonometry ; natural philosophy ; an extended course of mathematical aud physical geography ; 
construction of maps; and drawing, as applied to mechanics and architecture. 

As the object of the Society is to prepare teachers, and not merely to improve students, the 
books used as text-books are^ as far as practicable, those used in the schools, andtlie examinatioii.-i 
will be conducted iwith special reference to the ultimate object in view, viz , eifective teaching. 

The male department is, in effect, subdivitled into distinct .sections, 
placed respectively under the principal of the normal school, making the 
preliminary examinations, conducting the studies of the senior class, and 
giving three-fifths of the lectures to the whole in " pedagogy," or the art of 
teaching and governing in a school ; under the Adce-principal of the normal 
school, conducting the studies of the junior class as well as those of the 
morning classes of the female students, and likewise conveying the other 
two-fifths of the instruction in '■ pedagogy ;'' and under the superintendent 
of the model school, who has the entire disposal of that section, and the 
arrangement of the students' exercises in it. The junior class consists, in 
the main, of those whose stay in the institution has not exceeded three 
months ; the senior class, of those whose stay has exceeded that term. 

Amongst those admitted as students, very great variety obtains in re- 
sp'.'ct to attainmeuis and capacity. Hence classification, at first, is almost 
iii'pra.cticable. Tnis, added to the difficulty occasioned by the entrance of 
new students at every period of the quarter, creates no little embarrass- 
ment in the management of the junior class, especially when the numbers 
are so large. Almost every one, on his entrance, is totally ignorant of some 
one or more of the branches of study pui'sued ; hence it becomes neces- 
sary to adopt, to a great extent, the tedious and distracting plan of indi- 
vidtial instruction. Very few of them can read toell, that is, with intelli- 
gence and correctness of pronunication, while the monotonous tones of 
some, and the almost inveterate provincialisms of others, require much 
time and attention to correct. Besides, unhappily, many of those whose 
general acquirements are of a fair average character, have comparatively 
neglected orthography and reading, and consequently very much of their 
time during their stay in the class is necessarily devoted to these elemen- 
tary studies. Some again, have made apparently fair progress in arith- 
metic, grammar, &c., previous to admission ; but though able to perform 
the operations in one science, and give definitions or parse sentences in the 
other, it is found, on examination, that their knowledge is merely by rote, 
and that the principles in both cases are not at all vmderstood : they know 
that the thing is so and so, but they cannot tell why. Again, some who 
are. to some extent acquainted, with principles, are quite unable to com- 
municate their information to others, especially to children, and their 
efforts rather resemble awkward attempts at lecturing than intelligent 
teaching. All the time that can be spared from learning and practising 
the art of teaching has to be employed by this junior class in a vigorous 
effort to repair the deficiencies of their own elementary education. For 
this purpose they form a very interesting school of primary instruction 
under the Vice-Principal. 

20 



312 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

The following is the course of study of the junior class during the 
quarter ended 31st March, 1847, as described by its tutor, Mr. Saun- 
ders : — 

Grammar. — The parts of Speech, and the Exercises -upon them in Allen and Cornwell's 
Grammar, using also the Latin Roots there given ; and the first part of Cornwell's Young 

GeogrnpJiy. General principles. Mathematical and Physical — Varieties of the Human Race 

—General features and divisions of Europe— Physical Geography of England— Text-book : Corn- 
v/ell's Geography. , . ,„ 

Natural History. — The great divisions of the Animal Kingdom — Radiatain detail — iext-book : 
Mrs. Lee's Introduction to Natural History, and Cuvier. 

Writing. — Improvement of the style in four hands. 

Arithmetic. — Principles and practice from Notation to Compound Proportion inclusive — and 
Square and Cube Roots.— Text-books : Crossley's Calculator and Thompson's Arithmetic. 

Arillime.tic [Mental] — All the Rules in Crossley's Intellectual Calculator. 

Linear Drawing. — Geometrical Figures in Dyce's Designs, and in FranccEur's Linear 
Drawing. 

Hiatory. — Roman and Saxon England in Outline — Norman period with the Feudal System 
and the Cru?ades in detail— Texl-boolcs : Pinnock's Goldsmith, revised by Dr. Taylor, and Ma- 
cinto.^h's History of England. 

■ Natural Pliilnsopliy — General Divisions-Properties of Matter and Laws of Motion— Text- 
books : Peschell's Physics and Moseley's Illustrations. 

Mensuration and Geometry. — Plane Figures— Text-books : Pasley's Practical Geometry, and 
Elliot's Geometry and Mensuration. 

Elocution. — A series of 21 lessons in proSe and poetry — Text-books : the Society's Ijesson 
Books, and Allen's English Poetry. 

Scripture — Geography and History of Canaan from the call of Abraham to the present time — 
Text-book : Home's Introduction to the Study of the Scriptures. 

Various other works are used as sources of illustration, and the students are referred to them 
for funlier information, in their future hours of leisure. 

The junior class is assembled on five evenings in the week, for two 
hours and a half, from 6 to half-past 8 o'clock, and on the morning of Sa- 
turday for four hours, from 9 to 1 p.m. The evening of Monday is occu- 
pied by devoting one hour to English Grammar, one hour to Geography, 
and half an hour to the elements of Physics. The lessons liaving been 
previously prepared during the period allotted to study in the morning, one 
of the students is selected by the tutor to examine the class in the lesson 
on grammar appointed for the evening. His questions are addressed to the 
members of the class individually, and on the failure of any one to reply 
to the question proposed, it is put to another, and another. This is required 
to be done with as much rapidity and precision as possible, and should 
every one in the class fail to reply satisfactorily, the interrogator must then 
explain the subject to them, and examine them again. '■ The exercises on 
the different rules of grammar, as corrected by themselves, arc read from 
their exercise books, every exercise being writteif before a lesson is consid- 
ered as past, and a record of it is then made in their journals. During the 
whole of this time the tutor is with them, occasionally asking questions on 
the lesson under consideration, pointing out to the class the errors of the 
questioner and their own. At the close of each lesson the students are 
required to mention anything which to them may seem objectionable in 
the manner in which the questions are put, or in errors of pronunciation, or 
any other which they may have observed ; aiid yet further to show how 
they would have proceeded under the same circumstances. This plan of 
friendly but searching criticism is carried on with every lesson superin- 
tended by one of the students. The geographical lesson is given by one of 
the students, previously appointed, much in the same manner as the sim- 
ultaneous or gallery lessons are given in the model school — that is, he 
furnishes them with information on the particular country or countries 
beyond what they may already possess ;. having ascertained the latter by 
questions at the commencement of the lesson. About half an hour is 
occupied in this manner, and then another half hour by another of the 
Btudents in interrogation on the same subject ; thus it is speedily ascer- 
tained if the information has been received by them, and also whether 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 313 

their notions are clear and distinct. In physics the same course is pursued, 
and, when requisite and practicable, experiments are introduced, drawings 
and diagrams used, and objects exhibited." 

The evening of Tuesday is occupied for the first hour in writing in copy- 
books, each copy being submitted to the tutor ; the errors are pointed out, 
and a line ^Yrittcn by him with special reference to those errors ; the stu- 
dent is thus furnished with a copy precisely adapted to his Avants. The 
next hour is devoted to drawing. In this, as in writing, the measure of 
success depends mainly on individual practice, and therefore the teaching 
is individual rather than simultaneous. Very few have practiced even 
drawing from copies before they came to the institution. Those who have, 
possess the facility of hand and eye which the preliminary exercises in this 
class are chiefly designed to convey. But the greater number require A^ery 
careful introduction to the first notions and habits of representing forms on 
a plane surface, or even of drawing straight lines, and measuring them 
into relative lengths, without Avhich they are quite unprepared to use the 
models which are introduced in the senior drawing classes. They make 
these first sketches in charcoal, so as to admit of correction, chiefly from 
simple geometrical figures in the published books of the Government 
School of Design, or from enlarged copies of those contained in Francceur's 
" Linear Drawing,"' prepared for the schools of France, organized on the 
Lancasterian system. Tiiis hour is the only one in the week devoted to 
drawing by those who are under the instruction of Mr. Saunders; but it. 
suffices to give a habit of using the eye and the crayon. Mental Arithme- 
tic occupies the next half hour ; and as mental calculations depend so 
much on the ability to combine numbers rapidly and to detect their rela- 
tions, much of the time devoted to them is occupied by tables and analyses 
of numbers, forming a firm basis on which to build up rapid and correct 
calculations. 

On Wednesday evening the first hour and the last half hour are occupied 
in the same manner as on Monday, but the hour from 7 to 8 is devoted to 
the History of England ; the lesson being treated precisely in the same 
manner as the geography. 

On Thursday evening the first hour is devoted to Elocution. The mem- 
bers of the class standing in a circle in the School of Design, the tutor 
reads about a page in the style and spirit which he wishes should charac- 
terize their reading. The students then read in turn : at the close of the 
reading of each, observations on the excellences or defects of the reader 
are elicited from his companions ; the teacher makes his own remarks on 
these observations and on the reading itself; and the pupil who sits next 
in rotation resumes the text. The next hour is dcA^oted to Practical Geo- 
metry, for their exercises in which the students occupy seats at the desks 
in the School of Design, and each is furnished with a slate, compasses, 
triangle, and ruler. The problem to be executed is then distinctly enun- 
ciated by the tutor ; the first step in its performance is explained and exhi- 
bited on a large black board, each copying it on his slate by means of 
instruments; the second step is then explained and illustrated in like man- 
ner. Wh^n completed, the question occurs, ' What have you done ?' And 
if the answer does not agree with the conditions of the problem, the dis- 
crepancy is pointed out and corrected. If the performance is correct and 
the reply satisfactory, the figure described is obliterated from the board and 
the slates, and the problem has to be executed again without any direction 
whatever. If this can be done, the next is proceeded with, and so on. As 
most of the students on entering are altogether ignorant of geometry, no 
very great amount of progress can be made : but a good foundation may bo 
laid for future improvement. The text-book used is one well adapted to 



314 BOE-OUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

the age of the students, combined with their want of eai-ly practice. It is 
Pasley's " Complete Course of Practical Geometry and Plan Drawing." 
It is employed to illustrate their practice in drawing from copies of geo- 
metrical figures, and simple problems in mensuration are pertinently intro- 
duced. The remaining half hour of Thursday evening is devoted to writ- 
ten arithmetic, or, in the conventional phrase of U'le schools, to " slate 
arithmetic." It is applied to the development of principles, or the appli- 
cation of them to practice, as may be required. In either case the students 
themselves are called upon to explain to their fellows the lesson received 
from the tutor, and to exhibit illustrations of it on the black board. 

The first hour of Friday, as of Tuesday, evening, is devoted to Wi-iting. 
The second hour to Elocution or Reading, in like manner as the first hour 
of the preceding evening : and the concluding half hour is employed in a 
lesson in Physics, as on Monday and Wednesday. 

On Saturday morning the first hour is devoted to Modern History and 
Geography; the second to exaininations in Arithmetic, especially in prin- 
ciples ; the thii'd to examinations in Grammar and Etymology, particularly 
Greek and Latin roots ; and the fourth to Scripture Geography and History ; 
all of them conducted in the same manner as the lessons already described. 

"It should be observed that one of the lessons for each evening is given 
by the tutor as a model for imitation by the students, all the subjects being 
taken by him in turn, and attention particularly directed to the points of 
failure on the part of the students, and the errors into which they are most 
likely to fall. It might perhaps be supposed that, from remarks being 
freely made on each other's performances, some exhibitions of ill-feeling 
might be produced, but I believe myself fully justified in saying that no 
one instance of the kind has occurred. One advantage gained by these 
friendly criticisms is, that in very many instances the fault which passes 
unnoticed when committed by the student himself is apparent to him in 
another ; and hence his correction is applied to his companion and himself 
at the same time. 

'• The number of exercises which they are required to write gives them 
much practice in orthography ; but besides this, an hour of one morning 
in each week is devoted exclusively to writing from dictation ; the exer- 
cises being examined afterwards by two students appointed to that office by 
the tutor, who also afterwards examines them again himself. In addition 
to this, each one in the class is required to write a letter once a week to 
the tutor, the writer being allowed to select his own subject : this exercise 
is of great service, as displaying the mental peculiarities of the writer, and 
affording a medium of private and confidential communication. In the 
examination of these letters attention is devoted to the most minute points, 
such as the mode of address, manner of folding, &c. 

The members of this junior class also attend, Avith those of the senior 
class, the course of 60 lectures on teaching, &c., delivered by the Principal 
and Vice-Principal of the normal school ; making rough notes while the 
lecture is being given, and writing out afterwards a fair abstract of it in a 
book furnished to them for that purpose ; these abstracts also are examined 
and corrected by the tutor. During four hours and a half (fr(fm 9 till 12, 
and from 2 till half-past 3) of every day, the students are engaged in 
teaching classes of boys in the model school " under the close observation 
of the tutors, one of whom is always present, for the purpose of noticing 
and pointing out to them their defects, and the mode of supplying them ; 
thus the lessons learned in the normal school are carried into practice in 
the model school, and the application of theory to practice conducted under 
strict supervision." Such is the course contemplated ; but there appeared 
to me to be great room for improvement in the practical employment of 



BOROUfiH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 315 

this valuable portion of time; improvement connected with an economy 
of opportunities in other departments of the training in this institution, in 
describing which it will be convenient again to revert to the labors of the 
model school. 

During the past year an additional Bible class to the one mentioned in 
the Time Table has been established at the request of the students, the 
time of meeting being from 9 to 10 on the Sunday morning, and though 
their being present is perfectly voluntary, almost every one of them has 
been regular and constant in attendance ; and the anxiety of many who 
have left the institution to have copies of the notes of the subjects taken 
up in the class, since their removal, affords an evidence of the value they 
set on the instruction communicated. 

At the close of the first three months of their stay, the members of thi,s 
class are put through another general examination by the Vice-Principal, 
in the presence of the Committee ; and from among them the numbers in 
the upper class are then filled up, so as to leave behind only the few who 
are yet unprepared to proceed with the rest to any profitable result. 

Upper Class in Normal School. 

'•The upper class," states the Principal of the normal school, "conrrists 
of students of not less than three months' standing. Their attention has 
been directed to the following subjects: — the English Language, Mathe- 
matics, Natural Philosophy, and Natural History. These studies have 
been pursued with me from 6 till half-past 8 during three evenings in the 
week.* The course, as to method, has been uniform, the instruction 
having been given in the form of conversational lectures, based, as far as 
possible, upon the lesson-books of the Society as text-books. As much 
information has been thus afforded as the students have been supposed to 
be able to master by study in the early morning of the following day. either 
privately or in class ; and the consciousness that tlie«next time the subject 
should be taken up it would be commenced by a searching interrogation as 
to what is known of the last given lesson, has acted as a sufficient stimulus 
to persevering indufstry. 

■'• The English Language. — This has been treated under three distinct 
heads. First, that which is ordinarily called Grammar, viz., the distinc- 
tions in the nature of words, the inflectional changes they undergo, their 
relations to each other, and the influence they exert in consequence of those 
relations. In short, syntax and et) mology, exclusive of derivation. The 
aim has been never to give any term, definition, or rule, except as the rep- 
resentative of an idea. — to supply the notion before the words that express 
it. The general principles of language have been given, too, as far as they 
could be understood by those not having the power of comparison from the 
want of acquaintance with two languages. Thus the universal fact has 
been taught, that languages have a tendency to get rid of their inflectional 
forms, and to express their relations by particles and position ; and hence 
has the reason been shown why the rules of position are so much more 
important in a language in its recent than in its earlier condition. English 
and Anglo-Saxon have, perhaps, been instanced. 

"The second direct study of English has been the Formation and Deri- 
vation of Words. These have been taught from lists of Anglo-Saxon, 
Latin, and Greek primitives found in the grammar. Etymologies have 
been explained, too. incidentally in connexion with the reading, and the 
various scientific terms from time to time occurring. In this study extreme 
accuracy has been insisted on, as it has been felt that persons not unfre- 

* Two whole evenings in each week are devoted to Drawing and Music, under the teacher of 
those branches. 



316 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL 

quently render themselves ridiculous, by dabbling in a foreign language 
with which they have not a correct acquaintance as far as it goes. 

" Composition is the third means that has been employed for teaching 
the English language. It has been felt to be important that a teacher 
should be able to express his thoughts in suitable language and in a proper 
order. In the exercises, importance has been attached to neatness of wri- 
ting and unaffectedness of style. Considerable advantages have attended 
this employment. It has been so pursued as to form a new study of Eng- 
lish, showing the structure of the language and not of the words, logical 
and not grammatical relations. Truer, because more extensive views of 
the nature of their mother-tongue have thus been obtained, than could 
have been secured had the same time been devoted to the mere study of 
grammar. [ regret to say that in a few instances, too (especially in the 
teachers selected by local committees), it has not been without its advan- 
tages even in regard to orthography. 

" We have not yet found time for a systematic course on English Liter- 
ature. It has not, however, been entirely neglected, but has been taken up 
incidentally in connexion with the composition. For as the exercises found 
in the text-book are for the most part selections from our best classic 
authors, fitting opportunities have been afforded, as each came under obser- 
vation, for giving a slight biographical notice, the characteristics of his 
style, his principal works, and the recommendation of those deemed most 
valuable. 

" Geography. — A good deal of attention has been given to geography. 
It is attempted to make this an inductive study ; certain conditions are 
given, from which certain consequences are to be inferred. Thus the stu- 
dents are expected to discover that the currents of the rivers of Eastern 
Europe are slow, and of Western Europe rapid; after having been told 
that the former have their rise at a slight elevation and have a lengthened 
course, and the lattef originate in the high land of Central Europe, at no 
great distance from the sea. Political and social geography are thus 
shown to be in a great degree dependent on physical geography ; the reason 
is seen why one nation is agricultural and another commercial ; why a 
certain manufacture should be carried on in a particular locality in prefer- 
ence to every other; and why an alteration in the mode of manufacture 
should involve a change in its seat. Thus that Holland is agricultural 
and England manufacturing; that our cotton manufacture is carried on in 
South Lancashire and the eJges of the neighboring counties, and not in 
Lincolnshire ; that our manufactures generally are travelling north and 
Avest; and that iron, which was once largely manufactured in Kent and 
Sussex, is now only smelted on the great coaltields, are not merely so many 
facts, but highly interesting facts; interesting, because regarded as effects, 
the causes of which are perceived, and have probably been discovered, by 
the student himself. 

" The Etymology of geogrophical names forms an important feature in 
this branch of knowledge. The name of a place often tells its condition 
or history; and the explanation of the same by calling into exercise the 
power of association, increases the probability of its being remembered. 
Thus the name Buenos Ayres, still shows the salubrity of the air of that 
town : Sierra, the Spanish name for a range of hills, the saw-like appear- 
ance which it presents ; New York tells us that it was once a colony of 
England, and those who know that it was first called New Amsterdam, 
know, too, that it was founded by the Dutch ; Virginia, shows that it was 
colonized in the reign of our virgin queen, Elizabeth ; Carolina, during- 
that of Charles {Carolu.s). The term fell, applied to mountains in the 
north of England, the south of Scotland, and in the islands of the north 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 317 

and west, shows that these parts of the country were occupied by some 
tribe or tribes of Scandinaviaa origin; while ben or pen found in the most 
mountainous regions, confirms the facts of history, that these high grounds 
were unconquered by the northern invaders, and continued in the possession 
of the original Celtic inhabitants. In thus finding out the cause of the 
fact, and the cause of the name, the reason has been exercised and the 
study rendered highly philosophical; and a science which has often been 
thought to c'onsist only of lists of hard unmeaning words, has been made 
attractive in a more than usual degree. 

'• Histonj. — This study has been almost exclusively confined to the few 
great promiaent events -which have distinguished the history of any coun- 
try. These have been a good deal arnplihed — traced to their causes, and 
pursued to their coiisequeuces. Shortness of time necessitates such a 
method. But irrespective of this, it is considered the best for a first course ; 
for, as these salient events are only the visible development of principles, 
an acquaintance with these affords a key, as it were, to most of the subor- 
dinate intermediate occurrences. The events of English history receive 
by far the most attention, as do also those nearer our own times, compared 
with the mare remote. In considering the events of other countries, con- 
stant reference is made to what was going on at the same time in Eng- 
land. It is thus frequently seen, that the same principle is developing itself 
at different places at the same time : e. g. the struggle between ecclesiasti- 
cal and kingly power in France and Germany, at the time of our Henry II. 
and his Archbishop Becket. 

^'Mathematics. — A full and systematic explanation of i\\Q principles of 
Arithmetic has formed a part of this study, and has been productive of 
great advantage to the teachers. Some who have entered the institution 
as good mathematicians, have been found to be unable to give a reason for 
the mode of performing the elementary parts of arithmetic. An acquaint- 
ance with rules by no means includes a knowledge of principles ; but he 
who understands principles can make rules for him.self. A strong interest 
has been excited, as the principles involved in the most ordinary opera- 
tions have been evolved, and the effect of this has shown itself remarkably 
in the different manner of teaching a class of boys in the model school 
before and after such explanation ; dulness on the part of the teacher has 
been succeeded by spirit, and lassitude on that of the boys by the most 
lively attention. 

" Deimn.strative Geometry has been pursued, but for the most part by 
each student independently, such being, in my opinion, the only way in 
which the advantages attendant on its pursuit are to be realized in the 
highest degree. The acquirements have, consequently, been very various, 
from only a few propositions to several books, according to ability and pre- 
vious attainments. In all cases, however, though not equally, the great 
object has been secured — mental drilling. 

''Only the elements of Algebra and rz-ig-owomerri/ have been taught, and 
these not systematically. The first has been introduced in connexion with 
the explanation of the principles of arithmetic, the algebraic formulse being 
given as the representatives of general truths. Trigonometry has been 
required for the explanation of certain facts of natural philosophy, espe- 
cially those of astronomy, and has been then introduced. 

" Natural Philosophy. — It has been attempted to teach this branch of 
knowledge so as to combine the popular with the scientific. It has been 
maiepopidar by drawing the illustrations from those phenomena which are 
every day before our eyes ; and, fortunately, the greiit truths of physics are 
almost always capable of such illustration. But the merely popular has 
been avoided, by directing attention, not only to results, but to the methods 



318 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

by which such results have been obtained. There are some truths, of 
course, only to be demonstrated by the higher mathematics. These are 
quite beyond our reach, and are either entirely omitted or explained by the 
nearest analogical approximation. But in numerous instances, perhaps 
most, the principle of a method admits of illustration by means of very 
elementary mathematical knowledge. Thus the students learn, not only 
that the sun and planets are at such a distance, but the manner in which 
such results are obtained is given, and shown to involve only the same 
principles as are employed in the simplest land surveying. 

^'Natural History. — Up to the present time only zoology has been con- 
sidered. Subsequent to the lectures on this subject, visits have been made, 
with great advantage, to the R,egent's Park Zoological Gardens and the 
I'ooms of the British Museum containing the specimens of natural history. 

" in the case of the few students who remain with us more than six 
months, the afternoons of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 2 to half- 
past 3, are devoted to the further study of mathematics, original composi- 
tion, and Latin. As regards the latter subject, the progress made is small 
indeed. It amounts to little more than removing some of the initiatory 
difRculties attendant on the study of- a new language, and showing the 
student how he may hereafter pursue it with the best prospect of success. 
Yet slight as is the amount of knowledge obtained, it has not been without 
its value as affording a glimpse into the nature of language in general, 
which is not to be obtained by the individual who has no acquaintance 
with any but his own." 

Drawing and Music. — Two whole evenings in every week, those of 
Monday and Wednesday, are devoted by the senior class to drawing; and 
three-quarters of an hour is given at the close of every day to singing 
The course adopted in the scheme of drawing lessons is. in the first instance, 
to convey lo the students, in a series of familiar explanations, such princi- 
ples of perspective as may be sutticient to enable them to delineate cor- 
rectly simple lines in various positions. This is done on the black board 
with chalk ; and when the class has evinced a degree of proficiency in such 
exercises, our next step is to introduce solid forms, involving a further ac- 
quaintance with principles which are then progressively laid down. 'As 
soon as practicable, the mere outlines on board are superseded by the use 
of paper, Avhicli is continued to the end of the course. The models in use 
in the classes are the series published under the sanction of the Committee 
of Council on Education : and we have also, as time and the skill of the 
student would permit, introduced many simple objects for exercise, such a.s 
articles of furniture. 

Tlie time devoted to vocal music is necessarily limited ; and the lessons 
are given at the close of the day, to prevent interference with any of the 
more important studies. The elementary lessons are based on Wilhem's 
system, as improved by Mr. Mullah ; but one lesson in each week is devo- 
ted to the practice of simple school-pieces, published in " The Singing Mas- 
ter" of Mr. W. E. Hickson, which is found to be of considerable use in 
creating an air of cheerfulness, and relieving the more serious exercises. 

Art of Teaching and Governing in a School. 
The theory of teaching and governing, is given in a series of lectures on 
pedagogy, which are delivered every day in the theatre of the institution, 
the course running through three months. Of these lectures the students 
are required to make abstracts. Among these, is a series on mental phi- 
losophy ; it being deemed of importance, that those who have to influence 
mind, through the agency of mind, should know something of its opera- 
tions. Through these lectures the science of education is generally under- 
stood. 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 319 

But education is an art as well as a science, and as in every other art, per- 
fection is to be obtained only by practice. This practice is se ured by the 
attendance of all the students in the model school for four hours and a half du- 
ring each day. They pass, step by step, through all the parts of the school, 
commencing with the lowest draft of boys, and ending with the charge of the 
whole. During this time, they are always under observation ■ and when 
any one manifests a want of skill in teaching or government, he is requested 
to leave the draft, his error is privately pointed out to him, and sucii di- 
rections are given as are considered proper to obviate it. Sliould the error 
be of a kind likely to characterize more than the individual, it is noted 
down and made the subject of observation to all the students when together 
in the theatre. 

The second method of improving the practice is, to assemble all the stu- 
dents in one of the gallery class-rooms, and then to require one of them, 
who has been previously appointed and furnished with a subject, to give a 
collective lesson to about a hundred boys. Every one is then engaged in 
noting down what he considers the defects or merits of the lesson, embra- 
cing points of grammar, manner, knowledge, government, &c. At the 
conclusion of the lesson, all the teachers adjourn to the theatre of the in- 
stitution, and in turns give their opinions of the lesson. When all have 
finished, observations are made by myself, first on the criticisms of the ob- 
servers and then on the general points of excellence or defect which have 
characterized the lesson. 

The third mode of improving the practice is by means of lessons given 
by the students in turn to all the rest. The chief difference between this 
method and the last is, that errors are checked as they arise. There is no 
noting down deficiencies ; but as soon as one is observed, the teacher is 
stopped, the defect pointed out, and he is at once required to rectify it. 
Before boys, this method would be obviously improper, as the moral influ- 
ence of the teachers would be destroyed by it. But, among themselves, 
it is found to work very amicably. Indeed, it has been gratifying to me to 
witness the good temper with which the criticisms have been all but uni- 
versally given and received. On the entrance of some students, the ob- 
servations have been rather intended to show the acuteness of the speaker 
than to benefitthe teacher who lias given the lesson. But this has soon 
righted itself, and almost always without the necessity of inteiwention on 
my part. 

The following is a list of the Conversational Pucadings to the whole of 
the students on the art of teaching and governing in a school, which form 
the quarter's course ; five being delivered on five several days in each of 
twelve weeks, three by the Principal, and two by the Vice-principal. The 
first 36 form the course given by the Principal, and the remaining 24, that 
by the Vice-principal. At the commencement of each quarter these courses 
are begun again. 

1. On tlie ol5Jeots which a teacher should have in view in adopting his profession. 

2. On the circnrastanoes Vr^hich make a teacher happy in a school. 

3. On some of the essential moral qnalifioations of a teacher. 

4. On the essential intellectual qualifications of a teacher. 

5. On the establishment of authority. 

6 On gaining ascendency over the minds of children. 

7. On combination and arrangement. 

8. On routines of instruction and formation of plans. 

9. On the monitorial system — its use and abuse. 

10. On the selection of monitors. 

11. On the training of monitors. 

12. On the collective or simultaneous system. 

13. On the art of teaching the elements of reading to very young childrea. 

14. lilustraiions of the mode of using the First Lesson Book. 

15. On various methods of teaching spelling. 

16. On the mode of using the Second Lesson Book. 

17. On object-lessons for young children. 



320 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

18. On the interrogative system, with illustrations. rp, ■ . t r„„v 

19 On analytical teaching generally, with illustrations from the Third Lesson iioot 

20. On synthetical teaching ; illu-strations from the Third Lesson Uook. 

21. On the art of reading with animation and expression. ■ , r » . • i» 

22. On Scripture questioning, generally ; on Scripture geography, and methods of teaching it. 

23. On teaching writing. 

24. On the use and iiatnre of numbers. 

25. On teaching arithmetic. 

26. On the mode of using the Fourth Lesson Book. 

27. On teaching geography. 
23. On teaching grammar. 

29. On teaching drawing. 

30. On teaching vocal music. 

31- On the philosophy of the human mind as applicable to education. 

32. On attention and memory. 

33. On as.sociation. 

34. On conceptio'i. 

35. On imagination. 

36. On the principal writers on education. 

37. On rewa'-ds and punishments. 
3S. On emulation. 

39. On common errors relating to punishments, and on corporeal punishments. 

40. On moral and religious influence generally. 

41. On the promotion of a love of truth, honesty, benevolence, and othervirtues, among children. 

42. On cleanliness and neatness, kindness to animals, and gentleness. 

43 On promoting obedience to parents, respectful demeanor to elders, and general submission to 
authority. 
44. On the private studies of a teacher. 
4,5. On the course to be pursued in organizing anew school. 

46. On keeping the various registers of attendance and progress. 

47. On the ventilation of school-rooms and dwellings. 

48. On school furniture generally. 

49. On some of the circumstances which affect the condition of the laboring classes. 

50. On the elements of political economy. 

51. On machinery and its results. 

52 On cottage economy and savings' banks. 

53. On the duties of the teacher to the parents of the children, and to the Committee. 

54. On the formation of museums and collections of apparatus, and the management of school 
libraries. 

55. On keeping up a connexion with old scholars. 

56. On the order in which a teacher should attempt to accomplish the various objects he has in 
view. 

57. On school examinations generally. 

5S. On raising and filling a school, and on the circumstances which make a school popular. 

59. On the various ways in which a teacher may co-operate with other benevolent efforts, such 
as temp-rance societies and Sabbath schools. 

60. Brief summary of the teacher's duties iti school, out o/" school, and in relation to the chil- 
dren, their parents, the Committee, a.r.d to society at large. 

The 4i hours devoted to daily practice by the students in the moni- 
torial labors of the model school, with an occasional gallery lesson, has 
already been de.scribetl ; and several times a w^eek the Principal casts a 
careful glance around tlieir drafts, and makes notes of the defects observa- 
ble in them, to form the subject of observations in the conversational lec- 
ture of the evening. If the students were staying, as they ought to stay, 
for two years, instead of six months, this amount of time spent- in the 
model school would be in excess; and the actual amount of valuable time 
devoted to its labors, is a sacrifice which challenges a vigilant superin- 
tendence and an amount of ambulatory instruction which shall turn it to 
the best account. The practice in gallery teaching is necessarily unfre- 
quent, where there are only three classes placed under it every morning ; 
but over this. also, the same eye is extended at like intervals : and every 
afternoon, at half-past three o'clock, occurs the gallery lesson, by a student 
teacher, in the presence of the Principal or the Vice-principal and the whole 
body of the students, expressly to form the subject of mutual criticism, 
and of a final critique by Mr. Cornwell, on adjourning to the theatre at 4. la 
the theatre, after taking the criticisms of the students on the lesson just de- 
livered, which seem generally to be limited to the superficial defects of 
grammar, pronunciation, or want of order in the gallery, the Principal or 
Vice-principal makes a far more searching exposure of its essential defects, 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 321 

which are carefully analyzed ; and concludes by throwing in the remarks 
required by his miscellaneous notes on the class and gallery teaching of 
the day. He then proceeds with the conversational lecture for the day, 
into each of which the student's limited period of residence compels him 
to throw a large amount of instruction, so tersely expressed, and yet so con- 
densed, as to require all the earnestness of the young men at once to seize and 
assimilate it. No one, however, can be present at one of these conversa- 
tional lectures without being struck by the weightiness of the matter which it 
contains, and the aphoristic vigor with which it is endeavored, not merely 
to lay it before, but to engrave it into the minds of the hearers. 

The tenor of the course may be gathered from the results contemplated 
in the following set of queries, drawn up by the Principal, and contained 
in the Society's " Manual :" 

Questions to test a School. 
The following questions have been drawn up for the use alike of Com- 
mittees and teachers. They indicate the points to which a teacher should 
direct his attention, and the course a Committee should take in order to 
ascertain the condition of a school. The questions are supposed to be put 
to the teacher : 

Reading : 

Do you define and Ihnit the portion to be read ? Is the portion assigned of such moderate 
Ungth as to allow of its being read three or four times ? 

Do your monitors question readily on the lessons that have been read ? 

Have you the specimens, models, or diagrams, that are necessary to illustrate such lesson? 

Do you rest satisfied if one boy is reading in the draft, or do you see that every child is attentive 
while one is reading? Do you also forbid the monitors approacliing the boy who is reading, aud 
require him always to stand wliere he has a view of the whole draft ? 

Do you pay attention to the styleoi reading, particularly with the elder boys ? 

Do you correct a bad style by having yery familiar sentences read ? 

By requiring the boys to tell you something, to write it down, and then to read it from their 
own writing ? 

Do you teach the meanings of words in connexion with the reading, as found in sentences, 
rather than with the spelling in which the arrangements must be arbitrary ? 

Do you point out on the map all the places occurring in the lesson read ? 

Do the boys exhibit seriousness of manner while reading the Bible ? 

Spelling : 

Do you sometimes teach and test spelling by the dictation of sentences to be written ? 

Do the elder boys sometimes copy pieces of poetry and the exercises in grammar, with a view 
to improvement in spelling? 

Do you have the more difHcult words that occur in your collective lessons spelt ? 
Interrogation : 

Do you or your monitors, question on every subject taught ? 

Do you occasionally require mutual questioning on the part of the elder boys ? 

Does your questioning include the three diiferent stages ? 1. During reading, the explanation 
of such words or allusions as are necessary to understanding the lesson ? 2. After the books are 
closed, with a view to impressing the facts of the lesson on the memory ? 3. The explanation of 
the etymologies of words and the imparting such incidental information as is naturally associ- 
ated with it ! 

Do you avoid indefinite questions, and such as by admitting of only " Yes 1" or "No!" en- 
cpurage guessing ? 

Writing : 

Are the books kept clean, free from blots, and without the corners being turned down ? * 

Do you furnish the boys with good'eopies, avoiding those which have improper contractions ? 

Have you a black board on which you write in chalk a copy for the lower boys who are unabla 
to write ? 

Hrithmetic : 

Do you teach arithmetic by the black board ? Have you one in each draft ? 

Do you in teaching arithmetic commence with and constantly refer to sensible objects 1 

Are the numbers in your lower classes always those of little value 7 

Do you invariably insist on every number being read to ascertain whether its value is under- 
stood ? 

Do your monitors jucifeoTi at every step in the process of a sum? e.g. "Why do you carry 
•nly one when you borrow ten ? 

Are the terms and mirks explained ? e. g. fVhat do £. s. d. mean ? Why is the rule cal2ed 
•ompound subtraction ? What are these "marks" used for? 



* The books may be kept imooth by tying them up between two pieces of boaid. 



322 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Do you connect the book knowledge of the more advanced boys with the objects around thenv ? e. g. 
What is the quantity of timber in the trunk of a tree whose height and girth, both at the root and 
part where it branches off, have been measured by themselves ? The number of gallons tha 
school water-butt will hold? The contents of a field, whose shape and sides they have ascer- 
tained ? 

Grammar : 

Do you explain every definition, rule, &c.. before allowing the boys to commit them to memory? 

Do you make your boys understand that language determines grammar, and not grammar lan- 
guage ? That the rules of grammar are only the recognized usages of language ? 

In explaining the etymologies of words are you extremely careful to give the right quantitiei 
and terminations of the roots ? 

Geography : 

Do you teach the physical features of any district first ? 

Do you make the boys aoqoainted with their own neighborhood and country before attending to 
more distant parts ? 

Have you a map of the neighborhood in the school ? 

In commencing geography do you require the boys to make a inap of the play-ground, or some 
well-known part ? Do you explain latitude and longitude by a reference to this map ? 

Do you require the boys occasionally to point towards the place under consideration ? e.ff. 
When Dublin has been pointed out on the map, do you say, JVuw point to Dublin itself? 

Drawing : 
Do you commence with chalk drawing on the black board ? ' 

Are your monitors so proficient as to be able to sketcli off any object illustrative of their lesson? 

Collective Teaching: 

Do you abstain from teaching collectively those subjects which depend for their improvement 
on the amount of individual practice, as reading, spelling, &c.? 

Do you test the efficiency of your collective teaching by individual questions? 

Do you sometimes require the elder boys to make a written abstract of their lesson ? Is this 
looked over with a view to the spelling among other things ! 

Do you make use of e.lipses ? the nttmbir varying inversely as the age of the child ? 

Are your collective lessons to the whole school especially devoted to subjects connected with 
manners, morals and religion ? Do those to the younger boys relate to the various familiar ob- 
jects, utensils, and operations about them? Are" those to the elder boys given systematically? 
i.e. Is each lesson part of a system of knowledge ? 
^ Is your collective teaching especially characterized by simplicity both of language and illustra- 
tion, and by animation'! * 

In using numbers do you make them intelligible by referring them to known standards ? e. g. 
If you were stating that soma trees are near 3U0 feet high, would you say that they were twice, 
three or four times, as the case may be, as high as some well-knovm object? 

Monitors : 

Do you devote an hour aday specially to the training of your monitors ? 

Is it yourprime object in this training to give your monitors the art of teaching, and do yon 
make the impartation of knowledge subservient to this ? 

Do you train every monitor in the very lessons he has to teach ? 

Is the mass of your school employed in some quiet exercise, as writing, while you are engaged 
with the monitors ? 

Have you a good general monitor to whom you can intrust the mass of the school during your 
training of the monitors ? 

Do you require the same monitor to teach the same lesson lh.3.t he maybe thoroughly competent 
to that lesson ? 

Have you a double set of monitors, that while one set is teaching the other is learning ? 

Do you from time to time, add to your monitor's class, to act as auziliarics, in the absence of 
the regular monitors, such boys as you deem likely to be suited to the office ? 

Do you associate with the office of monitor as many pleasing circumstances as you can ? 

Do you pay them ? Have they as such the use of the school library ? Do you treat them with 
marked consideration ? Do you occasionally accompany them in little excursions, to places in 
your neighborhood distinguished in history, or for beautiful scenery, or to museums, gardens, 
&c. ? 

Do you impress on your monitors that they should correct no mistake till they have ascertained 
that none of the boys in their draft can ? Do you exemplify this in your own teaching ? 

Discipline: 

Is order the habit of your school ? 

Have you perfect quietness during writing? 

Do you drill your boys occasionally, with a view to securing habits of prompt obedience ? 

Do you have the movements to and from the desks made in an orderly way ? Do you generally 
have the tables repeated or sung simultaneously at this time ? Do you sometimes have ths 
movements made with perfect quietness, as a means of discipline ? Are all the exercises con- 
ducted as quietly as is consistent with the full development of the powers of the children ? 

Do yon have all tho-e subjects which depend for their improvement upon practice, such as read- 
ing, spelling, &c., taught indioidually ? 

is every exercise conducted under observation, that the boys may feel that any inattention or 
disorder is certain of detection ? 

* Many of the points s\igKested h( re aic as ini|iortant in connexion with other kinds of leaching as in coUce. 
tive; but as the evils of neglecting Iheni wonid be increased iu proportion lo the number taught, it has been 
teemed advisable to throw them under this head. 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 323 

Have ail the children at all times somctinsr to do, and a motive for doing it ? 

Do you abstain from giving a second command till the_^r.s-£ has been obeyed ? 

Do you abstain from calling- out, except on puite necessary occasions '.' 

In stopping or directing the whole school, do you give your commands so lond as to be heard by 
all, and no louder ? 

Are you strict, without being severe ? 

If you find the general discipline becoming at all lax, do you have those exercises which are 
most faulty, gone through as you wish them, after the regular school hours ? 

Habits of the School : 

Is your room clean ? 

Do you have it well stoept, and dusted every day ? 

Do you see all the school furniture put in its proper place, before you leave the school-room? 

Is your room well ventilated ? 

Do the boys exhibit subdued and gentle inanners in their intercourse with each other ? 

Are the boys generally clean in their persons and dress ? 

Do you carefully prevent idling about the school, or in or near the gates, &c., or in the play- 
ground ? 

Are yovir boys orderly and respectful to their superiors ? 

Do you discourage tale-telling, except in reference to very serious faults ? 

Do you keep your drafts of about a uniform size, not less than nine, nor more than twelve ? 

Do you take care that boys of the same class are of about the same attainments, and in a col- 
lective lesson of the same mental capacity 7 

Have you the /orm of the drafts distinctly marked on the floor, by cutting into it, painting it, 
or letting a wire into it ? 

Examinations : 

}:l3.ye yon stated periods oi examination, in order to the removal of the competent to higher 
classes ? 

Do the children know these periods, that they may work with a view to them ? 

Are the intervals between these periods of such moderate length in a child^s estimation, as to 
intluence his exertions? 

Have the parents any means of knowing when their children are advanced? 

Have you an evening examination, at least once a year, for the parents and friends of the chil- 
dren ? 

General : 

Do you req^uire every error to be corrected by the boy inaking it, after it has been corrected by 
another ? 

Is every matter explained before it is committed to memory ? 

Do you keep up your connexion with the old scholars, by occasional meetings, or in any other 
way ? Are they allowed the use of the school library ? 

Do your children /uDC you ? 'Ha.vc you -a. siwng sympathy for children, and pleasure in their 
company ? 

Is your teaching intellectual? Do the children really understand whSit they are learning? Do 
you make every subject taught a means of intellectual development? 

Do your children come to school regularly and in time ? 

Do you give time and attention to subjects according to their relative importance ? e. g. Rea- 
ding above every thing, the history and circumstances of your own town or locality in prefer- 
ence to more distant parts ? 

Do you rither aim at givin* the boys a good acquaintance with a/c«j subjects, than a very su- 
perficial acquaintance with many .' 

Are your exercises generally characterized by /(ff^e repeatiiig dJniX much questioning 7 

Do you keep a register oi the attendances of the children, and of their school payments ? 

Do you rest satisfied if you obtain an ansioer to a question /rom one, or do you repeat and re- 
model the question till the matter is understood by all ? Do you impress this maxim upon your 
monitors, that all teaching is for the wliole class ? 

Model School. 
The " Boys' School '' connected with this establishment probably stands 
unrivalled in England, as a model of order and discipline, and of the col- 
lective instruction of a large number of children on the monitorial system. 
It is composed of 760 boys, from the age of six to twelve or thirteen 
years. The register is always full, and the attendance is regular and 
punctual, (averaging daily 700.) although the children are gathered from 
one of the poorest neighborhoods of the city. The school is not free, (ex- 
cept when there are more than two from the same family,) and yet being 
good, there is no difficulty in collecting in advance the fee of 2d. per week. 
On account of the large number of classes into which the school is divided 
the normal pupils enjoy unrivalled opportunities, both of obsei-vation and 
practice of the method of instruction pursued, which are not exclusively 



324 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

monitorial, but a mixed system of the monitorial and simultaneous, in 
which, however, the monitorial is the ground- work of the whole. 

Female Department of the Normal School. 

The mode of obtaining admission, conditions, organization and instruc- 
tion of this department are substantially the same as those in the male depart- 
ment. The immediate class instruction and practice are conducted under fe- 
male teachers, while the pupils of this department attend daily in the theatre, 
or lecture hall on the lectures on the art of teaching given to the young men. 
In addition to, or modification of the course pursued by the young men, 
the female Normal pupils are instructed in the art of teaching needle- 
Avork; in the best metliod of training girls lo household duties; and espe- 
cially in those methods of commimicating religious knowledge, which, 
under the blessing of God. are most likely not only to make the young 
acquainted with, and interested in Holy Scripture, but to bring them 
practically under the influence of its sacred truths. 

Mr. Fletcher, in his Report describes a peculiar practice of the Model 
Girls' School:— 

Nor must I omit from express notice the perfect system of industrial 
instruction in needlework, and the economy of clothing, through which 
the whole school is passed. The outline of it given in the Society's 
'■ Manual of the Sy.stem of Teaching in the Model Girls' School." is no 
paper theory, but a simple description of a well-ordered and vigorous set 
of classes, embracing the whole school, for an hour and a half every 
morning. " When at needlework the children are seated at desks, arranged 
in classes, according to their proficiency. The first or lovrest class is 
seated further from the platform, and the others, in numerical order, in 
front of it. The number of classes depends on the different kinds of work 
taught in the school, each kind occupying a separate class. The number 
in gene';al use is 11. From the higher classes the best workers are selected 
for monitors ; two are appointed for each class. One instructs for one week, 
whilst the other is at workunder the direction of her monitor ; consequently 
each superintends the class and works alternately ; and each monitor contin- 
ues at the sam.e desk until she is appointed monitor to a higher class. Every 
girl continues to sit at the same desk while she remains in the class. 
There are also two platform monitors, who alternately superintend and 
work one Aveek. Bnt all the monitors of classes, and the girls under their 
care, are under the superintendence of the general monitor. Everj' Friday 
morning the girls are allowed to bring their own work. 

The children in the higher classes are provided with lap-bags, made of 
brown holland. These are marked 1, 2, 3. &e., for as ma,ny as the desk 
contains. The number of the desk is also marked upon them ; thus -§• sig- 
nifies that the bag belongs to the fifth girl in the eighth desk. Before the 
children take their seats, the bags are placed by the platform monitor on 
the class monitor's desks, and by them given to their girls. The class work 
and all garments in hand, are collected by the class monitors, and placed 
on the ends of the desks ready for the platform monitor to deliver to the 
mistress. The monitor of each desk is furnished with a pair of scissors, 
thread-paper, needle-case, and a bag large enough to contain all the imple- 
ments that belong to her desk. They are also supplied with a few thimbles 
and needles, for which they are responsible to the platform monitor. The 
children in the lovv^cr classes use colored cotton for the class work, as it 
renders the stitches more conspicuous, and consequently facilitates general 
inspection. It also excites an interest, as the promise of a choice of some 
pretty color is a strong inducement to a child to perform her work neatly. 

At the time assigned for closing the labor of the morning reading drafts, 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 325 

viz., at a quarter past 10 o'clock, the general monitor rings the bell as a 
signal for the business of the drafts to cease ; and, after a pause, the com- 
mand is given for the girls to turn to the right or to the left, as the order 
may be. The order is then given, and the whole of the children vi-'allc in 
a line along the passage round the school, and each girl, as she comes to 
the end of it, steps in behind the desk to which she belongs, and goes to 
her proper place at the desk. Each monitor does the same, taking her 
place at the head of the desk. Each child being now opposite to her own 
slate, a command is given to take their seats, which they do instantly. 

A signal is now given for the monitors to distribute the bags, after 
which they return to their seats, and another signal is given for each girl to tie 
her own bag to the desk before her. A signal is again given for the moni- 
tors to examine their girls' hands to see if they are clean, and that each is 
provided with a needle and thimble. The platform monitor now supplies 
the class monitors with any additional work they may require for their 
girls, which the class monitors give out; also a needleful of cotton to each 
child, and then return to their seats. A command is now given for the 
whole school to show work, that is, to hold it up in their left hand to see 
that each is furnished with work. The bell is then rung, each child 
holds down her work and immediately begins ; and the monitors pass down 
the desks to instruct them. When a child wants work she holds up her 
left hand as an intimation to her monitor, who steps forward and supplies 
her. If a monitor wants a fresh supply she makes a like signal to the 
platform monitor. M''hen a girl wants thread she holds up her right hand, 
and her monitor supplies her. If a monitor wants a fresh supply she makes a 
like signal to the platform monitor. At half past 11 o'clock the mistress 
examines the work of each child ; those v»iio merit rewards have a ticket, 
and those Avho have been careless and inattentive forfeit one, or are 
confined after school. 

At a quarter before 12 the bell rings for the girls to show work, and 
the monitors to pass down the desks and collect the needles and thimbles. 
An order is then given for the children to put the class work into the bags, 
and the monitors to collect all articles in hand, and deliver them to the 
platform monitor, who takes them to the platform. The monitors then 
take their seats. The order is now given to untie bags", when each 
child unties her own ; a second order is gi^'-en to take them off; and a 
third, to fold them up. Each child folds her own neatly, with the number 
in view, places it on the desk before her, and puts her hands behind her. 
The bell then rings for the monitors to collect bags, which they do. placing 
them one on the other in order; they then put them neatly into the bag 
belonging to their desk; also their scissors, thread-papers, needles and 
thimbles. The monitors are then ordered to the platform with their bags, 
where they deliver them to the platform monitor. They then return to 
their seats, and the report of the good and inattentive girls is read aJond 
by the monitor-general; the good receive tickets, and the negligent must 
either forfeit tickets or stay in after school hours. As soon as the reports 
are taken, all the children are exercised out of their seats, to stand each 
opposite to her own slate, with her hands behind her. A signal is given 
for the girls to turn, when they are dismissed in order, one class following 
the other in a line along the sides of the school." 

For the details of the instruction in each class, I must refer you to the 
" Manual." The first class is for hemming, in two divisions, one composed 
of those who have not learned to fix a hem, and who are taught on waste 
paper, as being less expensive than linen or cotton, and answering the 
purpose just as well ; and a second, in which they practice hemming on 
small pieces of calico. The second class, also in two divisions, is for 



326 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

sewing and felling, and running and felling ; first division learning to fix 
their work in paper, and the second to execute it. The third class is for 
drawing threads and stitching; the fourth for gathering and fixing gathers; 
the fifth, for button-l:i,oles ; the sixth, for making buttons and sewing them 
on; the seventh, for herring-bone stitching; the eighth, for darning; the 
ninth, for making tucks, and whipping ; and the tenth, for marking. The 
eleventh is the finishing class. There is at present no knitting or netting 
class; and fancy work is expressly excluded and discouraged. 

•'As it if highly desirable that the children, as soon as they have learned 
to work, should be employed in something useful, this class comprises the 
girls who have passed through the preceding, and are here engaged in 
making and completing garments. The children in this class are taught 
economy in purcliasing, cutting out, and repairing various articles of Avear- 
ing apparel ; tliey are made acquainted with the waste occasioned by the 
M'ant of proper consideration and exactness in domestic arrangements, and 
the miseries frequently produced by mismanagement and inattention. In 
order to impress upon their minds this useful branch of female instruction, 
they are interrogated, in various ways, on the common concerns of life. 
When the teacher proposes a question, she waits until each child in the 
class has had an opportunity of returning an answer, according to the 
knowledge she possesses. She then comments upon each of these answers 
in a way that will enable the children to decide which is the most suitable 
course. To assist the teachers in these exercises, they are furnished with 
a few examples of questions and answers, which they may carry out to a 
much greater extent." These also will be found in the' " Manual," 
together with engraved patterns for cutting out the commonest garments. 
The highest industrial section of the school forms in fact a class for collec- 
tive teaching of the most practical and improving khid, including as many 
ideas on household management generally as can be conveyed. Specimens 
of needlework, made up in portfolios for the use of teachers, and arranged 
in the order of the above classes, are sold at the Society's Depository ; and 
the beautiful patterns of every variety of garment, made up in tissue 
paper by the finishing class against the time of the annual meeting, are 
quite little works of art. 

The propriety and industry exhibited throughout these industrial classes 
is as perfect as their system ; and a student teacher in each class has the 
advantage of co-operating in, and doing as much as she can of, the work 
of superintending each successive class, from the lowest upwards ; the 
sewing classes, in this respect, presenting no peculiarity distinguishing them 
from those devoted to other exercises. The discipline and moral tone of 
this school present throughout a standard well worthy of its exemplar 
character. It has a library of above 250 carefully selected volumes, 
besides a small librarj^ of reference for its monitors. Great advantage, too, 
must arise from a certain small proportion of the children being retained 
in connexion with the institution until a riper age, and even then not giving 
up their intercourse with it. In fact, the whole department is a family as 
much as a school ; and no higher praise can possibly be bestowed upon it. 
Art of Teaching and Governing a School. 

Three hours and a half each day are devoted by the female students to 
practice in monitorial or gallery teaching in the Girls' Model School; and 
in alternate weeks another hour and a half is given daily, by each of the 
two classes, to the practical labors of the needlework drafts. At the close 
of the afternoon's gallery lesson, they all adjourn to the theatre, on the 
back seats of which they take their splaces to hear the criticism on the 
gallery lesson which has been given by one of the young men, followed by 
the lecture on "pedagogy" for the day, in the course already described. 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 327 

A like criticism of the afternoon's gallery teaching, and of the draft teach- 
ing for the day, in the model girls' school, is taken on the opening 
of the evening classes. It is conducted with some spirit, and the 
concluding remarks of the normal school teacher, Miss Drew, are exceed- 
ingly acute and judicious. A weekly conversational lecture occupies 
two hours of every Saturday morning, and is given by the experienced super- 
intendent, Mrs. Mac Rae, to the whole of the female student teachers, 
seated at their needlework in the gallery. The following are the heads of 
her course : — 

1. On the various motives for entering on the professioD of a teacher. 

2. On some of the essential moral qualifications of a teacher. 

3. On the selection of monitors. 

4. On organizing a new school. 

5. On training monitors. 

6. On teaching the elements of reading, with illustrations of the method of using the First 
Lesson Book. 

7. On the various methods of teaching spelling, with illustrations. 

8. On training suitable monitors to assist in teaching needlework. 

9. On teaching arithmetic. 

10. On domestic economy and orderly habits. 

11. On school furniture, and the order of a school-room. 

12. On the cleanliness of a school-room, and ventilation. 

13. On the duties of monitors. 

14 On the various offices in the school. 

15. On improving an old school. 

16. On the judicious treatment of the monitors, 

17. On the duties of a teacher to the committee, and to the parents of the children. 

18. On a week's occupation in the m.odel school, and the advantages of cultivating a spirit of 
in<iuiry. 

These lessons of the superintendent, applying all which the students are 
learning in the normal school, to the circumstances into which they are 
about to be introduced, are highly interesting, vividly instructive, and im- 
bued with a truly Christian spirit. Drawing from the experiences of a 
quick and refined perception, they embody indeed practical lessons of adhe- 
rence, to unfailing truth and untiring patience, from which others than 
teachers might profit. The following is the Examination Paper on the Art 
of Teaching and Governing in a School, answered by Ami Ingleficld, 25th 
March, 1837 :— 

1. How will a teacher best establish her authority in a school ? — By firmness, joined with kind- 
ness of manner and impartiality in all her conduct; giving her commands clearly and definitely ; 
expecting prompt and cheerful obedience ; let the children see that principle governs her conduct: 
this, with good information and a pleasing manner of communicating, are not likely to fail of suc- 
cess in establishing the authority of a teacher in her school. 

2. What will especially demand your vigilance in giving a collective lesson ? — That the atten- 
tion of the children be kept alive by the interesting information and manner of the teacher; that 
the supervision be constant, and the order preserved. 

3. How will you endeavor to have good monitors? — By efficient training and interesting them 
in the work, imparting to them superior information, and reposing confi.denoe in them when found 
worthy. 

4. State some of the uses of the monitorial system, and of the defects which may be indulged 
under it ? — A greater number of children can be instructed at one time than by one individual. 

The monitors acquire the art of communicating the information they gain ; they must be ex- 
amples to their drafts ; and by these means th'ey are likely to prove, as they grow up, more useful 
members of society 

The defect would arise from the mistress indulging self-ease and neglecting her monitors, or 
leaving too much of the school duties to them. 

5. How will you endeavor to get good reading in a school ?— By attending to the punctuation, 
emphasis, rising and falling inflection, aspirates and non-aspirates, and tones of the voice. 

6. What will demand especial attention in the arithmetic classes? — That the children perfectly 
understand the rules and their uses. 

7. How will you convey to children the first notions of geography ? — By illustration as descri- 
bing the earth by an orange. ' 

8. What powers of the mind should an object lesson be directed to cultivate ? Observation, 

attention, reflection. 

It is difficult to imagine a combination of advantages greater than that 
enjoyed by the student teachers in the female department of this institution, 
including, as it doesj the animated and faithful instruction of the principal 

21 



328 BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 

teacher of the normal school and the vice-principal of the companion 
department, the lectures on teaching and governing in a school, delivered 
to the students in both departments by the principal and vice-principal of 
the normal school for young men, an admirable model school, and the 
faithful counsels conveyed by the superintendent in her daily management 
and weekly addresses. The effect of this combination is indeed very 
marked, if the superior activity and orderliness of mind shown by the 
senior over the junior section, during my presence in the school, afford any 
fair measure of its amount. Considering however, that the female students, 
though as much instructed as the male students, and possessed of superior 
manners, are yet not generally equal to them in physical resources, and in 
the enthusiastic energy which brings a considerable proportion of the latter 
into the field of instruction, it is not less to be regretted in their case than 
in the male department, that the young teachers have not the advanta- 
ges of a longer stay to strengthen their acquirements, their capacities of 
teaching, and, I might even add, their general character, before they enter 
upon the arduous duties of their very responsible situations. The time of 
their stay is far too sliort to accomplish all that is desirable in these 
respects ; although the means provided are, I sincerely believe, sufficient, 
with God's blessing, to render them able, modest, and Christian teachers. 
Among the circumstances incidentally conducive to this result, I would 
recall especial attention to the fair proportion of pupil teachers to be found 
in the model school, at the head of the monitor's class, giving a moral 
firmness, as well as intellectual strength, to its organization, eminently 
beneficial to the student teachers, at the same time that they enjoy the 
further advantage of the head teachers of the normal and model schools 
themselves daily superintending, correcting, and teaching in the classes. 

It is a leading object in the management of this institution to train up a 
race of teachers who shall not only elevate the office by the respectability 
of their attainments, bat adorn it by the fervor of their poetry. Each 
candidate is presented, on admission, with a copy of the following hints, 
accompanying the regulations to which he will be expected to attend : 

L Let your mind frequently and seriously revert to the objects which are to be obtained 
by your residence in the Society^s House. — You have at once to acquire and to communicate, 
to learn and to teach, to govern and to submit to government ; and you have to do this, not in re- 
lation to one mind only, but to many minds, — of different quality, under varying circumstances, 
—as an exemplar, and as subordinate to others. You have much to do. Therefore — 

II. Redeem your Time. — Do not think it sufKoient to attend regularly and diligently to ap- 
pointed studies, but improve the intervals of time which will necessarily elapse between these stated 
employments. Secure the minutes, for minutes compose hours. Ten minutes, diligently im- 
proved every day, will amount to an hour in the course of a week ; and an hour thus redeemed 
every day, will be equal in value to no small portion of a year. 

III. Cultivate Habits of Order. — Avoid negligence in personal appearance. Bealwaysneat 
and clean in your apparel. Let those pursuits which are most important in reference to your ex- 
pected engagements receive the greatest share of your attention ; and never suffer these to be in- 
terrupted or superseded by others of a more general nature. Do not allow levity and trifling to 
usurp the place of rational cheerfulness. •' Avoid the very appearance of evil." Attend to all 
established regulations. He who wilfully breaks rules which are calculated to promote the wel- 
fare of the community to which he belongs, is the conomon enemy of all. 

IV. Cherish a kind and friendly disposition towards your Associates. — Let this be shown by 
a general spirit of courtesy, — a willingness to assist where help may be needed, and especially by 
the communication to others of any knowledge you may exclusively possess. Manifest a decided 
disapprobation of unbecoming conduct wherever you observe it ; and, jealous for the honor of the 
body to which you belong, endeavor to stimulate every pupil to diligence and zeal in the pursuit 
of those great objects for the attainment of which all are alike receiving the countenance and aid 
of the Society. 

V. Exercise a constant Spirit of " Watchfulness unto Prayer. — Remembering that you 
are responsible to God for the right improvement of the advantages you enjoy, the talents you 
possess, and the time placed at your disposal ; seek daily for " the wisdom which cometh from 
above," and " the grace which bringeth salvation." Be yourself a diligent and devotional stu- 
dent of that book you are emphatically to teach ; and never forget that " all Scripture is given 
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto good works " (3 
Tim. ui. 16, 17.) 

Periodical examinations of the student teachers take place in the pre- 



BOROUGH ROAD NORMAL SCHOOL. 329 

sence of the Committee, and upon the results of these examinations its 
members appear to base their assertion, that by the efforts of the Society, 
restricted as those efforts may ever have been by external obstacles and inter- 
nal want of resources, " more elevated views of the teacher's office and duty 
have been promulgated ; a greater moral power has been given to popular 
instruction; and, as a necessary consequence, the school-master has been 
in some measure raised in public estimation, though not by any means so 
much as the importance of the office deserves. Letters from all parts of 
the country have borne testimony to the patience, diligence, and piety of 
many of the laborers whom the Society have sent forth. The best evi- 
dence, however, of the general satisfaction which has been given, is to be 
found in the increasing applications for teachers, which pour in from all 
quarters ; a demand largely exceeding the ability of the Committee to 
supply." 

If by any means its resources could be so augmented, aaid its duties so 
shared with supplemental institutions, that it could retain its student 
teachers on terms consistent with their interests and those of the schools 
to be supplied, for quadruple the time of their present stay, — for two years 
instead of six months, — such an arrangement alone would ultimately be 
productive of incalculable advantage to that great branch of the popular 
education of England which comes under its influence. 

The teachers trained in the institution, resident in and near the metro- 
polis, enjoy the advantage of periodical meetings in the theatre of the 
institution for professional discussions; as likewise of attendance at a 
course of lectures provided by the Society each winter since 1837, for their 
gratification and instruction. During the summer vacation a number of 
male teachers of British schools, from various parts of the country, known 
to the Committee through their inspectors, as persons who would really 
profit by such an opportunity for supplemental study, are invited to a rapid 
course of instruction in the art of teaching and governing in a school, and 
to take up their residence in the Society's house during its continuance. 
This opportunity of revising and improving upon their actual methods is 
of great value; and those who have enjoyed the advantages of it are 
warm in acknowledging them. Indeed, the British school teachers 
throughout the kingdom generally, maintain relations with the parent 
Society, because it is the centre of all applications for new teachers, and, 
therefore, the principal source of promotion. 



NORMAL AND MODEL SCHOOLS. 

OF THE 

HOME AND COLONIAL INFANT AND JUVENILE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 



The Home and Colonial Infant and Juvenile School Society, under whose 
auspices the Normal and Model Schools described below are conducted, was 
founded in 1836, and has since that time educated upwards of two thou- 
sand teachers for Infant and Juvenile Schools. The Committee in their 
first Report, made in, February, 1837. state with much force the reasons 
that suggested the formation of the Society. " The Committee may with- 
out fear of contradiction assert, that few situations in life require so much 
discretion, so much energy, so much tenderness, so much self-control, and 
love, as that of a teacher of babes ; that to guide and govern an infant- 
school well calls for wisdom to discern, versatility to modify, firmness to 
persevere, judgment to decide ] and they may add that no uneducated or 
undisciplined mind can supply the incessant care, the watchful diligence, 
the unwearied patience necessary to manage young children." 

One of the first duties of the Committee of the Society was to reduce 
infant instruction to a system, the necessity for which must have been 
obvious to all who have observed the trifling desultory way in which infant 
schools were too often conducted by untrained teachers. For this purpose 
it was absolutely necessary to found a model infant-school, and also to pre- 
pare a set of text-books for the use of teachers. Both these objects were 
carried out, and the Society having constantly kept in view the necessity of 
improving their system, now possess an admirable Model Infant School, 
a Juvenile School for children between six and ten years, in which the 
plan adpoted with the infants is carried out in its development with 
those of riper years ; and have published a series of text-books for the 
use of infant-teachers, obviously drawn up with the utmost care, and 
excellently fitted for the purpose in view. 

The establishment is located in Grays Inn Road, and contains accom- 
modation for a Model Infant School for children between the ages of two 
and six ; for a Juvenile Model School for children between the age of six 
and sixteen, and for sixty persons sent to be trained as teachers. The follow- 
ing documents, published by the Society, exhibit the qualifications Of candi- 
dates, and the course of instruction pursued in both the Model School, and 
the Training Department. 

Qicalijications of Candidates who enter the Institution to be recommended by the 
Committee to Schools, and the Conditions under which they are admitted. 

The Committee receive into their Institution, in Gray's Inn Road, near King's 
Cross, for a limited period, persons either desirous to enter for the first time upon 
tJie work, or tliose wlio, having engaged in it, feel tlieir own deficiency, and are 
anxious for improvement. 

In order to prevent disappointment and mistakes, tlie Committee think it neces- 
sary to state what they consider the necessary qualifications of candidates, and tlie 
conditions under -which they are received. 



332 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

Qualifications. — 1, Religious and Moral Principles. — As the primary object of 
early education is to cultivate religious principles and moral sentiments ; to awaken 
the tender mind to a sense of its evil dispositions and habitual failings, before it ia 
become callous by its daily intercourse with vice ; and to lead it to that Saviour 
who so tenderly received such little ones, and blessed them ; to accustom them to 
trace the hand of their heavenly Father in his works of providence and grace ; and 
to be impressed with the truth that his eye is ever upon them ; since such is the 
primary object, an object which if unattempted, early education is valueless ; the 
Committee consider that, in addition to an unimpeachable and moral character, 
decided piety is indispensable, and that without it no teacher can be fitted for the 
work. 

2. Natural Disposition and Abilities. — There are certain qualifications of tem- 
per looked for in the teacher of young children. The power of sympathy is felt by 
all, but its effect upon children is almost incalculable ; on this account an animated 
lively manner, tempered by self-possession, and a cheerful good humor, combined 
with gentle firmness, are very important. To these should be added, that natural 
fondness for children which leads to a participation in all their little pleasures and 
pains, and bears patiently with their infii-raities and ill humors. It is also particu- 
larly necessary that infant school teachers should possess an aptitude to teach, the 
abEity of drawing out and directing the powers of children, a quickness of percep- 
tion to see the effect of the instruction they are giving, and a readiness in availing 
themselves of accidental circmnstances to awaken moral sentiment, or draw out 
some intellectual faculty. 

Acquirements. — It would be desirable that a candidate should be able to readj to 
write a tolerable hand, to sing, should know the simple rules of arithmetic, be well 
acquainted with the Word of God, and possess some information in grammar, geo- 
graphy, and natural history. 

It will be seen that they think the office of teacher requires certain indispensable 
natural qualifications and some attainments ; and, having this opinion, the Commit- 
tee would earnestly entreat those interested in the cause of early education to 
patronize only such persons as their judgment can fully approve, every facility for 
the improvement of those who devote themselves to the work being now afforded 
on reasonable terms. 

Conditions. — 1. The Committee receive candidates in the first instance on proba- 
tion ; and on or before the expiration of a month, their qualifications are reported 
on by the superintendent in communication with the master of tlie model school ; 
and if the report be satisfactory, they are allowed to continue ; if not, they leave 
the Institution. 

2. All candidates who are to be recommended to schools are to remain twenty- 
four weeks in the house, and the Committee can not receive any who will not come 
in for that time. The wives of married candidates remain such time as the Com- 
mittee decide in each case, if they can not remain — as it is much to be desired that 
they should — the whole time. 

3. The charge is reduced to Is. a week, making £8 8s. for the twenty-four weeks, 
which includes every expense, except washing. 

4. Married men are noAV admitted to be trained as teachers of juvenile schools, 
without their wives, on the above terms, viz. 7s. a. week, for twenty-four weeks, 
finding their own lodgings. 

5. Unmarried men are not trained in the Institution. 

6. Six young females, not exceeding seventeen years of age, are received as pupil 
teachers for one, two, or three years, according to their age, at an annual charge of 
£25, which includes washing and books. 

7. The admission of teachers for short periods having been found very inconveni- 
ent to the arrangements of the Institution, and attended with comparatively little 
benefit, the Committee do not receive teachers for less than six weeks, unless they 
have actually the care of schools, and are, in consequence, unable to remain for that 
time. 

8. The return of teachers to the Institution contributing greatly to their improve- 
ment, the Committee agree to allow all teachers who have been regularly trained 
there to re-enter for one month, at a charge of £1 only, or six weeks for £1 10s., 
whether the money is paid by the teachers or from school funds. 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 333 

CouasE of Instruction for the Teachers in training at the Home and Colonial 
Infant and Juvenile School Society. 

I. Scripture. — The authenticity of the Bible and the evidences of Christianity ; 
a general view of the different books of the Bible ; a daily Scripture text with re- 
marks, chiefly of a practical nature ; instruction in the most important doctrines of 
the Bible to promote real religion, the lessons especially bearing upon tlie duties 
and trials of teachers. 

II. Writing and Spelling. 

III. Language. — Grammar ; etymology ; composition. 

IV. Number. — Mental arithmetic ; ciphering. 

V. Form. — Lines and angles ; superficies ; solids. 
.VI. Natural History. — Mammals; birds; plants. 

VII. Elementary Drawing. — For the cultivation of taste and invention; as an 
imitative art. 

VIII. Vocal Music. — Singing ; the notation of music. 

IX. Geography. — A general view of the Avorld ; England and its colonies ; 
Palestine. 

X. Objects. — The parts, qualities, and rses of common objects ; the essential 
properties of matter. 

XI. — Educational Lessons. — Principles of education as founded on the nature 
of children ; on tlie government of children, and moi-al training ; on subjects for 
lessons ; on graduated instruction ; on methods of teaching ; on Avriting and giving 
lessons. 

XIL Physical Exercises. 

First or Lowest Class. — Six Weeks. 
The students in this class are chiefly occupied in receiving instruction for their own improve- 
ment, with a view to their future training. 
H. M. Morning. 

8 15. The business of the day is commenced with a text from Scripture, and remarks. This is 
followed by an educational motto, setting forth some principle or practice of education, 
on which a few remarks are also made. 

8 30. A lesson on Scripture. 

9 15 Practice in singing pieces from ■•■ Hymns and Poetry." 
9 3(1. A lesson on objects, or the properties of matter. 

10 30. Recreation. 

10 45. Observing a lesson given to the children in one of the practicing schools by the superin- 

tendent of those schools. 

11 30. A lesson on language. 

12 30. Dismissal, Afternoon. 

2 0. A lesson previously given in the preparatory or practising schools, examined as to its 

object, and the method of giving it. 

3 0. A lesson on number. 

4 0. A lesson in singing and the notation of music, or in drawing, for the cultivation of taste 

and invention. 

5 0. Walking exercise on Monday, "Wednesday, and Friday. 
5 30. Dismissal on Tuesday and Thursday. 

Evening. 
C 30. Scripture instruction, or analyzing lessons in " Model Lessons." 

7 30. Entering heads of lessons in note-books. 
9 15. Dismissal. 

Saturday. 

8 15 A Scripture text and educational motto, as on the previous days. 

8 30. Scripture instruction. 

9 30. Gymnastics, under a drill-sergeant. 

10 30. Scripture instruction. 

11 30. Entering heads of lessons in note-books. 

Note. — The afternoon of Saturday is a holiday for all the teachers in the Institution. 

Second Class. — Twelve Weeks. 
As the students now begin what may properly be called their training, mora time is appropri- 
ated to the principles and practice of early education. 
H. M. Morning. 

8 15. A Scripture text and educational motto as to the lowest class. 

8 30. A lessen to the upper section of the class in geography, or on the principles and practice 

of early education, and to the lower section on Scripture. 

9 15. A lesson on number or drawing as an imitative art. 

10 0. In charge of classes of children in the schools, or a continuation of the lesson on drawing. 

10 45. A lesson-on the principles and practice of early education. 

11 30. Attending and remarking on gallery lessons given by students of the class. 

12 30. Dismissal. 



334 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 



H. M. Aftf.moon. 

2 0. In charge of classes of children in the schools. 

2 30. Observing a lesson given to the children by the mistress of the infant school. 

3 0. Drawing up sketches of lessons, or analyzing lessons in " Model Lessons," or Other axer* 

cises of the same kind. 

4 0. Notation of music, or practising drawing. 

5 0. Walking exercise on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

Evening. 

6 30. A lesson on Scripture, or natural history. 

7 30. Enlering notes in daily journals.* 
9 15. Dismissal. 

Saturday. 
3 15. A Scripture text and educational motto, as in the other days of the week. 
a 30. A lesson to the upper section of the class on geography, and to the lower section on 

Scj'ipture. 
fl 30. Gymnastics. 

10 30. A lesson on Scripture. 

11 30. Entering notes in daily journals. 

Third Class. — Six Weeks. 
The previous instruction and practice of the students is now brought to bear upon the govern- 
ment of large numbers of children, and the time is chiefly employed as assistants in the schools, 
or in taking the entire management of one of the small practicing schools. When they are not so 
employed, their time is occupied as follows, viz. : 
H. M. Moriung. 

8 15. A Scripture text and educational motto. 

8 30. A lesson on the principles and practice of early eduoatioBj or on geography. 

9 15. In the schools employed as general assistants. 

12 30. Dismissal. 

Afternoon. 
2 0. In the schools as before. 

5 0. Dismissal. Ei'ening. 

6 30. A lesson on natural history or Scripture. 

7 30. Entering notes in daily journals. 

9 15. Dismissal. Saturday. 

8 15. A Scripture text and educational motto. 

8 30. A lesson on geography. 

9 30. Gymnastics. 

10 30. A Scripture lesson. 

11 30. Entering notes in daily journals. 



Time allotted to each subject of study. 
The following table exhibits the time weekly allotted in the different classes to each subject of 
study, and also the average weekly time. 



I. General Improvement : — Scripturs .... 

Writing and spelling, reports of lessons, &o. 
Language ---.--.-. 
Number and form -.-..-- 
N:itural history -------. 

Geography, including the Holy Land - - - - 

Objects --------- 

A^ocal music -....--- 

Drawing ------ .. 

Gymnastics and walking exercise - . - . 

If. Lessons on the principles and practice of early education 

III. Practice in the Schools: — Taking charge of classes, ? 
and afterwards of galleries of children - - i 
Giving an opinion on the lessons of other teachers, / 
Giving lessons publicly ----- J 
Attending as assistants in the schools - - - 
Having the sole charge of schools under inspection - 

Recapitulation ; — General improvement - - - 

Principles and practice of education - 
School practice - - - - - 

Total number of hours weekly - 



First or 
Lowest 
Class. 



6 15 
4 15 



44 


45 


11 


15 









n. M 

7 

12 30 



35 
12 30 

8 30 



^. =. ^' ^^^ 



H. M. H. M. 

7 3 45 
12 30|l0 



31 45 
12 45 

8 30 



50 56 



32 15 




20 45 

3 

32 15 



• Mi\ch time and attention are given to these journals, bolh by the students and tho« who iustroet theni, sa 
well as hy the ladies of the Committee, to whom they ore sent lor exaiiiiuation. 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOE. PRIMARY SCHOOL TKACHERS. 



335 



It is deemed unnecessary to give any syllabus of the courses of ordinary in- 
struction, but the following syllabus of lessons on the principles and practice of 
early education, is annexed, as it shows what is in some degree peculiar to this iii- 
etitution. 

First Course. 

It is a distinctive feature at this course tliat the ideas are chiefly gained from 
examples presented to the students. The lessons are mainly explanatory of the 
examples. 

I. Lesson on the daily routine of employment in the Institution. The instruc- 
tions by the committee for students. General rules and regulations. 

IL Examination and analysis of lessons from " Model Lessons," viz. : — 

Lessons on objects, Part I. p. 51-93. 
color, Part I. p. 149-1 5 Y. 
animals, Part L p. 160-165. 
" number, Part L p. 103-140. 

Scripture Lessons, Part III. p. 1-28. 

III. Drawing out sketclies of lessons on various subjects, after the example of 
those analyzed. 

I. — On Objects. 

1. On a shell or leaf, according to the model of a lesson on a feather. 

2. Copper or iron . . . . " " lead. 

8. Tea or sealing wax ..." " loaf sugar. 

4. Vinegar or ink , . . . " ** milk 
6. Recapitulation. 

6. Parchment ....*' « paper. 

7. Cloth « . " leather. 

8. Pipeclay " " chalk. 

9. Wood or rice ....'" " coaL 

10. Recapitulation. 

11. A candle or hammer . . " " lead. 

12; A turnip or acorn ..." "a rose-leaf. 

13. An egg " « honeycomb, 

14. A bird or bee . . . . " "* a butterfly. 

15. Recapitulation. 

II. — On AniiRals. 

1. Sheep . model — hare. 2. Goat . model — cow. 

III.— On Color. 

1. The color blue . model — red. 2. Color yellow . model — green. 

IV. Lessons in Avhich " Practical Remarks " form the text-book. 

V. On the art of questioning children, and on the different methods of giving 

lessons. 

The students afterwards draw out lessons in full, according to models 
given. 

VI. On the best method of drawing out children's observaiion upon the objects 

around them, and upon the circumstances in which they are placed, and 
on fixing the knowledge so gained in the mind. 

VII. The characteristics of young children that must be kept in view and acted 

upon, in order to secure their attention, to interest them in their lessooa, 
and to gain ascendency over them. 

1. Love of activity. 

2. Love of imitation. 

3. Curiosity, or love of knowledge. 

4. Susceptibility to kindness and sympathy, 
6. Deficiency in the power of attention. 

6. The love of frequent change. 
1. The force of early association. 

8. Disposition to repeat the means by which they have once at- 
tained their ends. 



336 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

VIII. On the senses, and the use to be made of them in early education. 

IX. The gallery lessons given to the children of the preparatory or practicing 

schools, as to the subjects, the manner of treating them, and their bear- 
ing upon the education of the children. 

First Preparatory School. — 1. Form — 1st step. 

2. Color — 1st and 2nd step. 

3. Size — 1st step. 

4. Actions — 1st step. 

5. Human body — 1st step. 

6. Objects — 1st step. 

7. Number — 1st step. 

8. Religious instruction — 1st step. 

9. Sounds — 1st step. 

Second Preparatory School. — 1. Form — 2nd step. 

2. Color — 3rd and 4th step. 

3. Size — 2nd step. 

4. Actions — 2nd step. 

5. Place — 1st step. 

6. Objects — 2nd step. 

7. Animals — 2nd step. '' 

8. Number — 2nd and 8rd step. 

9. Moral instruction — 2nd step. 

10. Religious instruction — 2nd step. 

11. Sounds — 2nd step. 

X. A general view of the different subjects of instruction in the preparatory 

schools, with a view to lead the students to draw from them principles 
and plans of teaching. 

Second Course. 
L Instructions on familiar or conversational lessons, and on the subjects chosen 
for these lessons, in the preparatory schools. 

II. Analysis of lessons in " Model Lessons." 

1. Form, Part II. p. 150-226. 

2. The human body, Part I. p. 24-50. 

3. A flower. Part II. p. 65-76. 

4. Scripture lessons. Part II. p. 1-21. 

5. Bible examination. Part II. p. 125-132. 

III. Drawing up sketches of lessons in writing, according to a given model, 

first, singly, and then in a series or course. 

Objects. 

1. On sugar, after the model of the lesson on bread. 

2. Spices and liquids " " corns. 

3. Leather and silk " " cotton. 

Animals. 

1. On a tiger . . . Model — A pheasant 

2. The elephant and the cat . " A pig. 

3. Different kinds of teeth . " Different kinds of feet 
• of animals. 

4. Comparison of parts of a 

quadruped and bird. . . " Hand and foot. 

Scripture Illustrations. 

1. The sun and the dew. Model — The rainbow. 

2. Sheep — lion " The vine. 

3. Fishermen of Galilee " The shepherds of Judaea. 

Scripture Narratives. 
•w 1. On the. Prodigal Son, and on ) Model — Joseph's forgiveness 
2. The Brazen Serpent • • ) of his brethren. 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 337 

3. David's Veneration for his King " Solomon's respect 

for his mother. 

4. The Nobleman's Son. « Mark x. 46 to 52. 

Li Series or Course. 

1. A variety of sketches, after the model of the lesson on 

water. 

2. A series of sketches on a given subject " on 

prayer, <fec., as in " Model Lessons," Pai't III. p. 24, &c. 

3. A graduated series of sketches on the " on a 

same subject. straw, a cat, Ac. 

4. On the subjects appointed for lessons weekly at the differ- 

ent galleries. 

IV. Writing out lessons in full on specified subjects — As 

1. To develop the idea of Inodorous. 

2. " " PUable. 

3. " « Tasteless. 

4. " " Soluble and fusible. 

5. " " Seraitransparent. 

6. " " Elastic. 

'7. " " Aromatic. 

8. " " Natural and artificial. 

9. " " Lesson on an elephant. 

10. " " Comparison of the cow and pig. 

11. " " A piece of poetry. 

12. " " The rambow. 

13. " " The addition or subtraction of 8. . 

14. " " Explanation of the terms — sum, remainder, 

product, quotient. 

15. " " , Substance of lesson X. in Reiner's " Lessons 

on Form." 

16. " " On the illustration of the general tnith, "God 

is angry witli tlie wicked every day." 

Note, — The number of sketches and lessons which the students are enabled to 
draw out during tlieir training of course depends upon their ability and upon the 
previous education they have received. Some of these lessons are examined pub- 
licly, that their excellencies or errors may be pointed out for the improvement of 
the class, the name of the writer being withheld. 

V. — Gallery Lessons. — With reference to the Gallery Lessons, instructions 
are given on the following points : — 
1. The sketch. 
2- The subject-matter. 

3. The summary. 

4. The application of a moral subject. 

5. On maintaining order and interest. 

6. The exercise of the minds of the children, and the knowledge gained. 

7. The manner of the teacher. 

8. Voice — pronunciation. 

9. Importance of attention to the whole gallery of children. 

10. On the use to be made of incidental circumstances. 

11. On the questions to the children. 

12. Mechanical plans. 

VI. — On the subjects taught in the schools, their suitability to the children, 
and the mode of treating them : — • 

1. Color. 

2. Form. 

3. Size. . ■ 

4. Weight. 

5. Physical actions and operations. 



ggg NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

6. Number. 

7. Place, as preparatory to geography. 

8. Sounds, as preparatory to siuging and the notation of music 

9. Objects, including models of common utensils. 

10. Teaching by pictures of common objects, and drawing objects before 

children. 

11. The human body. 

12. Animals. 

13. Moral instruction. 

14. Religious instruction. 

15. Teaching pieces of poetry. 

16. Drawing and writing. 

17. Reading and spelling. 

18. Language, including composition, grammar, and the explanation of 

words. 

19. Number, form and language, as the elements of intellectual instruc- 

tion. 

20. Summary of the principles, learnt in considering the subjects of lessons 

for infants. 

21. Drawing out sketches of the different methods of giving lessons, and 

the uses to be made of them, showing which are bad and which are 
good, and those suitable to different subjects. 

VII. — Miscellaneous: — 

1. A course of educational mottoes. 

2. On intuitive knowledge and early development. 

3. On principles and plans of education. 

4. Anecdotes of occurrences in the school, brought forward with a view 

to form right principles of moral training and intellectual develop- 
ment. 
5' On the play -ground, especially in reference to its influence in the in- 
tellectual and moral training of children. 

Third Course. 
L — The practice of the school-room, and the principles on which it should be 

regulated : — 
Tlic school-room and its apparatus, including library, collection of objects 

&c. 
The opening and general arrangements of a school. 
Attendance, and the best method of raising and filling a school. 
Admission payment, and first treatment of children. 
General order and qnietness. 

The physical state of the children, liealth, cleanliness, neatness. 
The exercises of the school-room and play-ground. 
The division of time, and the subjects of lessons in a school. 
Modes of leading elder scholars to work, independently of the master's 

direct teaching. 
The government of a scliool with respect to its spirit and plans. 
The influence of numbers in teaching and moral training. 
Rewards, punisliments, emulation. 

Assistance, including paid assistants and monitors ; the monitorial system. 
The defects and advantages of the individual, and smiultaueous methods of 

instruction, and the use of the ellipses. 
Examinations by the teacher, for jiarents and for subscribers. 
Holidays. 

n. — Points respecting teachers : — 

The intellectual and moral qualifications of a teacher, and the circumstances 

wliich affect him in his labors. 
Tlie conduct of teachers to parents, committees, inspectors, and the public. 
The means by which teachers may carry on their own improvement. 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TKACHERS. 339 

ni. — On the mental and moral constitution of cliildren with reference to the 
principles on which education should be based : — 

Mental. 
The various operations of the mind, intellectual and moral, and the wisdom 

and goodness of God which they display. 
The dependence of one intellectual faculty upon another, and the necessity 

for the orderly and progressive development of the whole. 
Tlie intellectual diversities of children, and the method of treating each 
variety of character. 

Moral. » 

The importance of moral training on a religious basis, showing how the 

Bible should be our guide. 
Diversities in the moral character of children, and the method of treating 
each, viz.. 

Attachments of children. 

Anger, and the treatment of passionate cliildren. 

Quarrelsome cliiklren. 

Cliildren disposed to injure and destroy. 

Cunning chihh-en. 

Covetous children. 

Fear, and its use and abuse, as a means of discipline with cliildreo. 

Firmness, and its tendency to become obstinacy. 

Tlie love of distinction and applause. 

The cultivation of benevolence. 

Tiie sense of right and wrong. 

Respect. 

Obedience. 

IV. — General truths respecting the operations of the minds and moral feelings^ 
and the uses to be made of them in the education of children. 

The Graduated Course of Instruction pursued hi the Model Schools. 

I. Religious lMSTRUCTio>f. — 1st step : Moral Impressions. — The children of this 
gallery are very young, direct religious instruction can scarcely be attempted at 
first, but their moral sense is to be cultivated, and moral habits formed. For in- 
stance, little acts of obedience are to be required from them — their conduct to- 
wards each other regulated, and little conversational lessons are to be given upon 
the kindness of their parents and teachers, with a view to develop the feeling of 
love, and to instruct them in their duties. 

2nd step : First Ideas of God. — The object, as the children advance, is to pro- 
duce the first impressions of their Heavenly Father — to lead theai to feel some- 
what of his power from its manifestation in those works of his with which they 
are familiar ; and somewhat of his benevolence, by comparing it with the love 
shown them by then* parents and friends. 

drd step : A Scripture Print. — The story to be gathered from the picture, by 
directing the attention of the children to it, and by questioning them. A portion 
of the Scripture should be given, that the children may connect the narrative with 
tlie Bible, and receive it as Divine instruction. The children should also be en- 
couraged to make their remarks, by which the teacher may ascertain how far 
their ideas are correct. The object of the lesson should be to make a religious 
and moral impression. 

ith step : Scripture Narratives. — The incidents or characters should be chose 
with a view to inculcate some important truth or influential precept. Elliptical 
teaching should be introduced to help the children to receive the story as a whole, 
and to sum up the lesson. la giving these lessons, tlie story itself should be either 
read from the Bible, or partly read and partly narrated, and pictures only used 
occasionally, to illustrate and throw interest into the subject. Teachers ought well 
to consider the diiferent positions that pictures should occupy in the different stages 
of instruction. 

bth step : Scripture Illustrations of Doctrines and Precepts. — Narratives, 
fibosea with a view to inculcate some of the most sunple and fundamental doo- 



340 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

trines of Christianity. For instance, sin, its nature, introduction into the world, its 
consequences, and the remedy provided for it in the sacrifice of the Saviour. As 
the children advance, some lessons to be given to illustrate the natural history of 
the Bible. 

NorE. — Tn the first or early lessons on Scripture narratives, the truth or pre- 
cept should be drawn from the story by the children. In the later lessons, the 
precept or religious truth or duty may be stated as tlie subject of the lesson, and 
the children required to discover what Scripture narratives illustrate the truth or 
precept they are considering. 

&th step. — A course from the Bible, or a course on the Natural History of the 
Bible. On Monday, Scripture geograpliy. 

II. Objects. — \st step. — Distinguishing or naming three or four common ob- 
jects, and telling their uses ; or distinguishing and naming the parts of common 
objects, and stating their juses. 

2nd step. — One Object chosen that exhibits in a remarkable degree some par- 
ticular quality, that the idea of that quaUty may be developed. Another, having 
distinct parts, which the children are to discover, and of Avhich they are told the 
names. 

Zrd step : One Object. — The children to find out the qualities that can be dis- 
covered by the senses alone ; also to distinguish and name the parts. 

4</i step : miscellaneous Objects, Metals, Earths, Liquids, c&c. Owe Object. — 
The children to extend their observations to qualities, beyond those which are im- 
mediately discoverable by the senses. A little simple information to be given at 
this stage on the natural history or manufacture of the object, after the children's 
observation has been called out. 

6th step : Several objects. — The children to compare them, and point out their 
points of resemblance and difference. 

III. Tovs. — Model toys of kitchen utensils, common carpenters' tools, Ac, 
naming them, and 'telling or showing their uses. 

lY. Pictures. — 1st step. — Groups of objects or single figures, — naming and 
talking about them. 

iiid step.—Vaxt of tlie lesson to be on the recollection of a picture used in a 
former lesson — part on a picture of common objects. 

V. Human Body. — \st step. — Distinguishing the principal parts of the human 
body, the teacher naming them ; or the children exercising any part of the body 
as directed. This lesson should be accompanied with considerable action, to ani- 
mate the children. 

Ind step. — Distinguishing the secondary parts of the body. This lesson to be 
extended to the parts of the principal parts of the human body, the teacher con- 
tinuing to name them: a good deal of action still to be used. 

3rc? step. — -Distinguishing the parts of the principal parts of the hmnan body — 
the children naming them, and telling their uses. 

VI. Form. — Ist step. — Distinguishing the patterns of shapes for the purpose of 
developing the idea of form — the cluldren to distinguish them — no names being 
used. 

2nd step. — The children continuing to select the patterns of shapes, according 
to the one shown ; when perfect in this, they may select all those that have the 
same number and kind of edges, and the same number of corners. 

Zrd step. — The children to determine the number of sides and corners in planes, 
whether the sides are straight or curved ; also to learn the names of the jDlanes. 

4:tli step. — A solid is shown, and the children select all those that resemble it 
in some points; the names of the solids are not to be given. The letters of the 
alphabet to be examined, and the number and direction of their lines to be deter- 
mined. 

hth step. — To determine the length of different measures, learn their names, and 
practice the introductory lessons on Form in "Model Lessons," part II. 

6</t step. — The course of lessons on Form in " Model Lessons," part II. 

VII. Animals. — \ststep: A Domestic Animal. — A picture or a stuffed speci- 
men may be shown. The children to be encouraged in talking about it, to say 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 34 j 

what they observe or know, without reference to any arrangement, the aim of the 
instruction bebg to elicit observation, to cultivate the power of expression, and 
especially to encourage humane and benevolent feelings towards the inferior crea- 
tion. At this stage it is well sometimes to allow the children themselves to pro- 
pose the animal that they are to talk about. 

2nd step : A Domestic Animal.— G\\\\dvei\ to name its parts, color, size, and 
appearance. An attempt should be made in this stage, at a little arrangement ot 
the subject, but it should not be too rigidly required. One principal object should 
be to encourage humane and benevolent feelings towards the lower animals. 

Zrd step : A Domestic Animal. — Children to describe the uses of domestic ani- 
mals, then- different actions, and with what limb they perform any action, the 
sounds they make, our duties with respect to them, &c. These alternate weekly 
with 

^th step : Animals and Human Body. — The children to describe where the 
different parts of the human body are situated, and to compare those parts with 
the parts of animals, pointing out in what they are alike, in what they differ, and 
how fitted to the habits and wants of man, or of the different animals. See course 
in " Model Lessons," part I. 

bth step : Wild Animals. — Children to tell their parts, color, size, and appear- 
ance ; to point out how particularly distinguished, autl to learn something of their 
habits and residence ; being led to perceive how the animal is fitted by the Al- 
mighty for its habits and locality. 

VIII. Plants. — \st step. — Naming the parts of plants, and telling their uses 
to man as food, <fec. 

2nd step. — See course in " Model Lessons," part II. 

IX. Number. — 1st step : First Idea of Number. — The idea of the numbers 
from 1 to 5 or 6, to be developed by the use of the ball frame and miscellaneous 
objects, as exempUfied in Reiner's introductory lesson, " Lessons on Number," re- 
printed, by permission of the author, for the use of tlie teachers of the institution, 
m " Papers on Arithemetic ;" to which may be added many additional exercises, 
Buch as those in the 1st and 2nd sections of " Arithmetic for young Children," <fec. 

2nd step : First Idea of Number. — The idea of the numbers from 6 to 10 to be 
developed by the use of the ball frame, as before ; also the first and second exer- 
cises in " Model Lessons," part i., to be used as directed in tliat work. 

Zrd step : Addition and Subtraction. — The remaining exercise under section I., 
also the whole of the exercises on subtraction in the same work. 

4^//, step. — The more difficult exercises in " Model Lessons," part i., tfec, accom- 
panied by selected exercises from " Arithmetic for Children." 

btli step : The Four Simple Rales. — Exercises on the four simple rules, in num- 
ber from 10 to 100, from "Papers on Arithmetic," and "Lessons on Number;" 
also simple explanations of the rules, leading the children to think of the opera- 
tion they have been performing ; also, by numerous exercises, to lead them to 
perceive some of the general properties of number. 

X. Color. — \st step. — Selecting colors according to a pattern shown, and ar- 
ranging colors, no names being used. 

2nd step. — Learning the names of tiie different colors, and selecting them when 
called for by name. 

Zrd step. — Distinguishing and naming colors and shades of colors, and pro- 
ducing examples from surrounding objects ; with exercises on beads of different 
colors. 

Aith step. — Distinguishing and naming shades of color, and producing examples 
from memory. 

hth step. — The lessons in this step to be given on a specific color ; the children 
are also to learn from seeing them mixed, how the secondary colors are produced 
from the primary. 

XI. Drawing. — From the age of the juveniles, and also from drawing not 
coming under the head of " Gallerj'^ Lessons," the following course of exercises can- 
not be so well arranged into stages for the various schools. It is also thought 
desirable that one of the courses of lessons should be presented in a continuoua 



342 NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

form, that the extent and variety of exercise -which they are intended to give to 
tJ»e mind may be observed. TJie courses form two series of exercises, commenced 
in the infant-school, and completed in the juvenile -school. 

First Series — To Exercise the Eye alone. 

Measuring relatively. — Let the children determine the relative length of lines 
drawn in the same direction on the slate, i. e., which is longest, whicli is shortest, 
Ac. Whenever there is a difference of opinion, prove who is correct, by mea- 
suring. 

Determine the relative length of lines drawn in different directions on the 
slate. 

Determine the relative distances between dots made on the slate. 

Determme the relative difference of the distances between different parallel 
lines. 

Determine the relative size of angles. 

Determine the relative degree of inclination of lines from the perpendicular — 
first, by comparing them with a perpendicular line, drawn on another part of the 
slate — and afterwards without this assistance. 

The same exercise with horizontal lines. 

Determine the relative size of circles, and then of portions of circles. 

Cliildren called out to divide straight lines, drawn in different directions, into 
2, 3, 4, (fee, equal or given parts, the others to state their opinions as to the cor- 
rectness with which the operation has been done. 

The above exercise repeated with curved lines in different directions. 

Note. — Several of the above exercises may be applied to the lengths, <fec., of 
the objects and pictures in the room. 

Measuring by current Standards. — The teacher to give the children the idea of 
an inch, nail, quarter of a yard, foot, ha!f a yard, and yard, wliich, at first, should 
be drawn in a conspicuous place, for the whole class to see. 

To decide the length of lines. — First practice the children upon the inch, then 
upon the nail, and so on up to the yard ; continually referring to the standard 
measures. 

Note. — These exercises should be continued untU the eye can decide with 
tolerable accuracy. 

Determining the length of lines combined in various rectilinear geometrical 
figures. 

Determining the circumference or girth of various objects. 

Determining distances of greater extent, such as the floor and walls of the 
room, tlie play-ground, <tc., &,c. 

Measuring by any given Standard. — Measuring sizes, heights, lengths, &,c., bj 
any given standard. 

How often a given standard will occupy any given space, with respect to su- 
perficies. 

Second Series — To Exercise both the Eye and Hand. 

Before commencing these exercises, it would be advisable to give the children 
instruction (in a class around the large slate) with regard to the manner of holding 
the pencil, the position of the hand in drawing lines in various directions. This 
will be found to diminish the labor of attending to each individual separately. In- 
struction as to the position of the body may be left till the children are placed at 
the desks. 

Note. — The standard measures, used previously, should be painted on the 
walls, or placed conspicuously before the class in some manner, both horizontallj 
and perpendicularly, in order to accustom the children to them. 

The children to practice drawing straight hues in different directions, gradually 
increasing them in length. First perpendicular, second horizontal, third right ob- 
lique, fourth left obUque. 

To draw lines of given lengths and directions. 

To divide the hues they draw into given parts. 

To draw curved lines in different directions, gradually increasing in size. 

To try how many angles they can make with 2, 3, 4, ic, lines. 



NORMAL SCHOOL FOR PRniARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 



343 



To try -what they can make of 2, 3, 4, &c., curved lines. ITien proceeding to 
copies ; first copying those formed of straight lines, then those of curved lines. 

To draw from copies. 

Note. — In the course of forming figures out of straight and curved lines, the 
children should be taught to make the letters of the alphabet. 

XII. Geogkaphy. — 1.9^ step. — The course consists of the following series of les- 
sons : 1. The cardinal points. 2. The semi-cardinal points. 3. The necessity of 
having fixed points. 4. Tlie relative position of objects. 5. The boundaries of 
the scliool-room. 6. The boundaries of the play-ground. Y. The relative distances 
of the parts and objects of the school-room. 8. Tlie relative distances of the parts 
and furniture of the school-room marked on a map, drawn on the large slate or 
black board witli challc, before tlie children. 9. Tlie scale of a map. 10. The 
relative positions and distances of different places on a map of the neighborhood, 
11. The map of England. 12. The map of ihe Holv Land. 

22 



TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT 

FOR MASTERS FOR THE NATIONAL SOCIETY". 



The following account of St. Mark's College is drawn from the Annual 
Reports of her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, from 1843 to 1846, and from 
publications of the Principal, Rev. Derwent Coleridge, addressed to the 
Secretary of the National Society : — 

The principal Normal School, or training establishment for masters for 
schools under the charge of the National Society, is located in the parish of 
Chelsea, on the Fulham Road, about two and a half miles from Hyde Park 
Corner. It is called St. Mark's College, and the place is frequently designated 
as Stanley Grove. 

Site and Buildings. — The site of the institution consists of eleven acres 
of land, perfectly healthy, and surrounded by a wall ; of the eleven acres of 
land, about three acres and a half are occupied as gardens and potato- 
ground, three acres as meadow-land, two acres and a half as pleasure-ground 
and shrubberies, leaving about two acres for the farm and laundry buildings, 
the college, practicing school, and chapel. The whole of the grounds, 
whether laid out as meadow-land, garden-ground, or shrubberies, may be 
considered, and really are, practically useful for the industrial purposes of 
the college. Formerly the estate belonged to Mr. Hamilton, whose com- 
modious mansion near the southern side of the property affords, in addi- 
tion to an excellent residence for the pi'incipal, a committee-room, a spacious 
and -lofty lecture-room, having an area of 1,070 feet, the walls of which were 
fitted by the late owner with handsome bookcases, above which are casts 
from the Elgia marbles, a dining-hall (area 4501 feet), and offices. 

Attached to this has been erected, in one of the Italian styles, a chapel, 
&.C., a quadrangle, in which are situate the dormitories of tlie pupils, a sep- 
arate bed-room (area 52| feet) being appropriated to each. The quad- 
rangles are two stories, containing each 22 small sleeping-rooms, together 
with the towers at the two outer angles, each of which contains a sitting- 
room, a master's bed-room, and three smaller chambers for boys, thus pro- 
vi(iing accommodation for fffty students and two masters. Underneath are 
coal-chambers, workshops fitted up with carpenters' benches, a shoe and 
knife room, »Sic. The laundry is a separate building; one end of this has 
been fitted up as an infirmary, and in the center are store-rooms for potatoes 
and apples, and other products of the farm and garden.* 

The practicing school is situate near the chapel, on the north side of the 
grounds. It is an octagonal building, affording accommodation for six 
classes, in addition to those that may be arranged on the gallery. In the 
center is the fireplace, and over this, on the sides of the brick-work form- 
ing the ventilating apparatus and the cliimneys, have been fitted black- 
boards and conveniences for suspending maps and musical tablets, so as 
that they may be seen by the classes opposite. Independently of the central 
square area, each side of which measures 20 feet, the recesses provide 
accommodation for 260 children. A cottage on the premises, situated near 
the practicing school, has been fitted up during the present year for the 
accommodation of the two higher classes, in separate rooms, the area of each 
Ijeing about 259 feet. 

* Report, National Society, 1842, p. 75. 



346 ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 

The teachers and masters of the training establishment consist of a prin- 
cipal, a vice-principal, a head master, a teacher of music, a teacher of draw- 
ing, and an industrial master or steward. The principal is the Rev. Derwent 
Coleridge, nephew of the eminent poet and metaphysician, Samuel T. Cole- 
ridge, who has impressed his own views on the general scope and details of 
the institution. Of him, Mr. Moseley, one of the Inspectors, speaks thus : — 

" Those persons -whose privilege it is to be acquainted "with Mr. Coleridge, will 
appreciate bis many and eminent qualifications as an instructor, and they will 
readily understand the ascendency which is given to him over the minds of the 
students, not less by that kindly and persuasive manner which is peculiar to him, 
and that colloquial eloquence which is his patrimony, than by the generosity of 
his purposes and the moral elevation of his principles of action. In the union of 
qualities such as these, with an abiding sense of the importance of the objects 
be has proposed to himself, absolute dedication to them, and entire faith in the 
means be has adopted fur accomplishing them, be has succeeded in creating 
around him an institution which has piobably outrun the hopes and expectations 
of its earlier friends, not less in the scale of its operations than in the character 
of the results which it contemplates, — an institution which claims, at an humble 
distance, to take its place among the collegiate establishments of the country — 
wbicli has enlisted the sympathies of a large portion of the clergy in its favor, 
and ct)ntributed not a little to raise the standard affixed by public opinion to the 
office of an elementary schoolmaster." 

The general scope and design of the institution, as gathered from Mr. 
Coleridge's own writings, may be thus summed up in the language of one 
of the inspectors : — • 

" Resting upon the ground that it is the duty, and by consequence the right 
and privilege of the Church to be the teacher of the nation, Mr. Coleridge's 
efforts have been mainly directed to form the character of his pupils in accord- 
ance with Church principles — to raise up a body of teachers, who might appre- 
ciate the Scriptural character of the English Church, and who should feel them- 
eelves to be living, intelligent, and responsible agents in the carrying out of her 
system. For such an end, they must prove (so far as such a result can be secured 
by any system of training within the reach of man) capable of communicating 
that entire preparation of heart and mind by which, with the help of God's Holy 
Spirit, the due reception and effectual working of the gospel message may be 
secured. Accounting it to be the peculiar aim of Protestantism, contemplated as 
an awakened energy of the Church, to enable each man for himself, according to 
his measure, to give a reason for the faith that is in him, and to ground that faith 
on Holy Scripture. Mr. Coleridge trusts that the teachers educated in this in- 
stitution will be skilled to cultivate the best fruits of the Enghsli Reformation, 
as that which would substitute a religion of light for the darkness of super- 
stition. 

" Tile Church being regarded as the teacher of the nation, she can have no end 
in view short of or wholly apart from, the training of the young in the pi-inciples 
of true religion. At her bands they are to be enabled, as far as human instruc- 
tion might avail, to profit by the reading of Holy Scripture. No school knowl- 
edge can be recognized as useful which may not, directly or indirectly, contribute 
to this end. To bring up a child in the way in which he should go, and to fur- 
nish him with the weapons of his heavenly warfare — this is not a part of his 
education, rather it is the sum and substance of the whole ; for whatever secular 
knowledge is really desirable as a part of early and general education, is either 
included in such a description, or may with facility be added to it — cannot fitly 
be tauglit apart from it. Language, with all its uses — history, in all its branches 
— science itself, considered in its noblest aspect, as an organ of reason and exer- 
cise of the mental faculties — these and every other study, not merely technical, 
attain their highest value when connected with religious truth, and degenerate 
into falsehood when pursued in any other connection. 

" Mr. Coleridge feels strongly that no number of attainments, nor any facility 
in communicating them, can of themselves qualify a schoolmaster for his arduous 
office, aud that before we inquire into the special fitness of a teacher, there is 



ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 347 

needed, as an essential prerequisite, a sound, and, to a considerable extent, a cul- 
tivated understanding— a certain moral power, the growth of religious principles, 
but developed by intellectual culture. And as tlie parochial schoolmaster has to 
supply all the indirect teaching to which the children of the better-provided 
classes owe much, and perhaps the best, of what they know, in those children of 
the poor likely to be intrusted to him, he will have to cultivate good liabits in 
the ground of self-respect — habits of regular industry and self-control, of kindness 
and forbearance, of personal and domestic cleanliness, of decency and order ; he 
will have to awaken in them the faculties of attention and memory, of reflection 
and judgment ; he will have not merely to instill knowledge, or supply the ma- 
terials of thought, but to elicit and exercise the powers of thinking, — to seek 
with the first dawning of reason to awaken a faculty by which truth may be in- 
deed discerned— a faculty which he cannot give, but which he will assuredly find, 
and to which, by continually presenting its proper counterpart, he will ground 
knowledge upon faith, and give to religious truth an evidence approaching to 
intuition. Wherefore he especially needs to be not simply a seriously-minded 
Christian, but an educated )nan ; and while to teach letters, in however humble 
a capacity, is not a mechanical employment, the occupation of the schoolmaster 
of the poor, when regarded from the proper i^oint of view, is as truly liberal as 
any in the commonwealth." 

The following passages are in the language of Mr. Coleridge : — 

" The truth is, that the education given in our schools (I speak of those open 
to the poor for cheap or gratuitous instruction, but the remark might be expanded 
much more widely) is too often little more than nominal, imparting, it may be, a 
little knowledge- — sometimes hardly this — but leaving the mental powers wholly 
undeveloped, and the heart even less affected than the mind. Of course there 
are exceptions and limitations to this statement. It does not apply to every 
school, and is less true of some districts than of others ; but the fact, as a whole, 
stands upon what may be called statistical evidence. Is this owing to an acci- 
dental or to an inherent defect ? Are the means employed inadequate merely, 
or essentially unfit ? If the former, we may trust to time and gradual improve- 
ment. We may proceed, if possible, more carefully, but in the old way. If the 
l.itter, a diii'erent course must be pursued ; we must do something else. I ven- 
ture to take the latter position. 

" To what end do we seek to educate the poor man's child ? Is it not to give 
him just views of his moral and religious obligations — his true interests for time 
and for eternity ; while, at the same time, we prepare him for the successful 
discharge of his civil duties — duties for which, liowever humble, there is surely 
some appropriate instruction ? Is it not to cultivate good habits in a ground of 
self-respect ? — habits of regular industry and self-control, of kindness and for- 
bearance, of personal and domestic cleanliness, of decency and order ? Is it not 
to awaken in him the faculties of attention and memory, of reflection and judg- 
ment ? — not merely to instill knowledge, or supply the materials of thought, but 
to elicit and to exercise the powers of thinking ? Is it not to train him in the 
use of language, tlie organ of reason, and the symbol of his humanity ? And 
while we thus place the child in a condition to look onward and upward — while 
we teach him his relationship to the eternal and the heavenly, and encourage 
him to live by this faith, do we not also hope to place him on a vantage-ground 
with respect to his earthly calling ? — to give to labor the interest of intelligence 
and the elevation of duty, and disarm those temptations by which the poor 
man's leisure is so fearfully beset, and to which mental vacuity offers no resistance ? 

" But is this an easy task ? Can we hope that it will be duly performed for 
less than laborers' wages, without present estimation or hope of preferment, by 
the first rustic, broken-down tradesman, or artisan out of employment, whom ne- 
cessity, or perhaps indolence, brings to the office ? Not to put an aggravated 
case, however common, can any half-educated man from the working classes (and 
the majority of those who seek to be schoolmasters are all but uneducated) be 
safely intrusted with duties, the very nature of which it would be impossible to 
make him understand ? Almost uninstructed, and utterly untrained — with little 
general fitness for his calling, and no special apprenticeship — he may teacli a 
little, and this not well, but he cannot educate at aU. But will not a little prep- 



348 ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 

aration suffice ? May lie not be taught a system ? Ho may indeed be taught a 
system, but surely it will not suffice. He wants the first conditions of a teacher. 
He cannot teach what he does not know. He cannot explain what he does not 
understand. He may learn a particular method, but not how to apply it. The 
best preparation which he can receive, shoi't of a complete coarse of training, is 
Bupei'liciiil and formal. He must himself be educated before he can educate 
otJiers. Morally and religiously considered, the case is still worse. He caimot 
'Suggest motives, or inspire feelings, of which he is himself unconscious. If he be 
a pious man, it is indeed much ; yet his principles, or at least his mode of ex- 
plaining them, will be uncertain. 

■a «-•»****** 

" Here, then, I think we have the root of the evil. The object on which so 
much zeal and ingenuity have been bestowed, has been, not to procure proper 
inasters, but to do without them. The attempt has been to educate by systems, 
not by men. School-rooms have been built, school-books provided, and methods 
of instruction devised. The monitorial, the simultaneous, the circulating, the 
interrogative, the suggestive systems, have each been advocated, separately or 
in combination. Meanwhile, the great need of all, without which all this appa- 
ratus is useless, and in comparison with which it is unimportant, has been all but 
overlooked. It has been taken for granted that the machinery of education 
would work itself, as if there had been a living spirit in the wheels. The guiding 
mind, by which even an imperfect mechanism might have been controlled to good 
effect, was to be superseded ; nay, the conditions under which alone it can be 
provided — adequate support and just estimation — have been regarded as not 
merely unattainable, but as positively objectionable. The result is exactly wlmt 
might have been anticipated. Each successive system, so long as it has been 
carried on under the eye of the author — that is, in effect, by an educated man, 
or by any really com^petent teachers — has been more or less successful ; and in 
every case the merit of the workman has been transferred to his tools ; and 
Avheii, in other hands, these prove unserviceable, or even mischievous, tlioy nofe 
merely lose a credit to which they were not entitled, but are charged with a 
fault which lies, perhaps, mainly in the handling. I say miscliievous ; for in edu- 
cation, as in other arts, the most effective implements may chance to require the 
most dexterous management. Let me not be thought to undervalue even tlie 
slightest helps by which the communication of knowledge may be facilitated. 
There is an art as well as a science of education ; and every art has its methods, 
of wliich some may be better than others. But method itself supposes intelli- 
gence, adaptation, choice ; when traveled blindly, it is a mere routine. And if 
this be true in the domain of matter — if no method can exempt the sliip-builder 
or the engineer from the necessity of ever-varying contrivance — nay, if some 
faculty of this sort be required to enable the bird to construct its nest, or the 
bee its cells — how shall it be dispensed with, how shall we hope that its place 
can be supplied by forms, and practices, and rules, when that upon which we 
have to work is the mind of man ? Even an educated teacher who trusts to 
mechanical arrangements, must expect a mechanical result. Phidias himself 
could not have produced the semblance of life, "the image of a man, according 
to the beauty of a man," had he employed any but the most simple tools. The 
mental statuary must, in like manner, leave upon his work the touches of his 
own hand : he must model with his own fingers. Every child is an individual, 
thinking and feeling for himself. He must be dealt with accordingly. The influ- 
ence of the master must, as far as possible, be personal. Whatever intermediate 
agency is employed must be, for tlie same reason, intelligent ; for mind can only 
be affected by mind, the inferior by the superior. To procure this without extra 
cost ; to create a number of teachers who shall continue learners, exercising in 
the former capacity a certain freedom of action, without losing their own do- 
cility and dependence — in a word, to reconcile an intelligent agency with gen- 
eral regulation and unity of purpose, is a problem for which, perhaps, no general 
solution can be offered. In practice, every national schoolmaster must solve it 
for himself; and the success of his attempt will be the test of his efficiency. 

" I have described the education of a poor man's child with a reference to the 
ends for which I suppose it to be given ; and I have contended that this educa- 
tion cannot be given through the instrumentality of such men as are commonly 



St. MARK'S TRAIIflNG COLLEGE. 349 

employed for that purpose. The educator must liimself have been both suffi- 
ciently and suitably educated. Tliis will be denied by none, but every one will 
affix ills own meaning to the words. I say further, to teach letters, in however 
humble a capacity, is not a mechanical employment : to educate, iu tlie full sense 
of the word, is as liberal an occupation as any in the commonwealth. In plain 
terms, then, and iu old-fashioned language, my conclusion is, that the schoolmaster 
must be an educated man. Thus stated, the proposition has a more startling 
souud ; but the import is the same. I speak of the thing, not of the accidents 
with which it may be accompanied. I do not speak of birth, or social position, 
or habits of life, or manners, or appearance, but of a certain condition of the 
mental faculties, as well moral as intellectual; of that which constitutes educa- 
tion, contemplated as a result — not of the dress by which, in this country and in 
modern times, it is commonly distinguished. Of the social relations and outward 
bearing which education must necessarily assume, I may say a few words here- 
after ; at present I speak of the thing itself With this explanation, I do not 
fear to affirm that the schoolmastei' must be an educated man. And this neces- 
sity is not at all affected by the class of children which he has to train. The 
amount of acquirement may differ; but this is the least thing to be considered. 
I am utterly opposed — I had almost said hostile — to the notion that any number 
of attainments, or any facility in teaching them, can qualify a schoolmaster for 
his arduous office. Attainments may make a particular teacher — a professor, as 
such teachers affect to call themselves — but a mei'e teacher has much to learn 
before he can undertake to educate. A sound, and, to a considerable extent, a 
cultivated understanding — a certain moral power, the growth of religious princi- 
ples, but developed by intellectual culture — surely this is an essential prerequisite 
in every educator, every schoolmaster, before we inquire into his special fitness 
for the class of children of which his school may bo composed. And let it not be 
assumed that this is less requisite in the teacher of the poor than of the rich. 
The parochial schoolmaster, in which term I include the master of every church- 
school fur the poor, is encompassed Avith difficulties to which an ordinary com- 
mercial or grammar school offers no parallel. Not merely has he a greater num- 
ber of children to instruct, with less as.sistance and in a less time — children, for 
the most part, of tenderer years, and less prepared by previous instruction and 
home-training — but he has more to do for them. They are more dependent upon 
him for their education. His scholars have, iu a manner, to be taught not merely 
to think, but to speak, if they would express any thing beyond animal passions 
and animal wants. He has to supply all the indirect teaching to which the 
children of the better- provided classes owe much, and perhaps the best, of what 
they know. And Avhen to this we add the moral training which they require ; 
when we take into account the actual position of the church in this country, and 
remember that on the parochial schoolmaster the children of the poor are too 
often dependent, not merely for catechetical instruction, but for the first implant- 
ation of religious sentiment — that he has too often to give tliat first presumption 
in favor of holy things, as they are set forth in the church of our fathers, of which 
there should be no rememberable beginning — that he has to interpret tiiat sound 
of Sabbath-bells, which ouglit to have a meaning to the ears of earliest child- 
hood, as often as it carries to the cottage its message of peace ; when, lastly, we 
add to this the influence for good which the honored teacher may and ought to 
exercise over the youth long after he has quitted the school — an influence which 
he can only maintain by the ability to direct and assist him after he has ceased 
to bo a child ; in a word, when we see that the church schoolmaster has not 
merely to minister to the clergyman in some of his most arduous and important 
functions — the instruction of childhood and the guidance of youth — but to make 
up much that is wanting, and correct much that is perverse, in the circumstances 
and tendencies of humble life ; shall it be said that I have overstrained the 
point, and contend for too high a standard ? But if this be a just picture of what 
we want, then look at what we have, and be my earnestness forgiven I 

" At all events, it is better to strive for too high, than to be content with too 
low a standard. Do I describe an impossible perfection ? Let us at least set 
out with our faces toward it ; we are then in the right direction, though we ad- 
vance but a little way. Let us set out with faith, and the resolution that it 
engenders, and perhaps we may advance further than we tliink. 



ggQ ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 

" I have described the quahfications of a schoolmaster implicitly by a reference 
to his work. How, it will be asked, are these to be commanded ? Not, assured- 
ly, by any cheap or summary method. Not, let me venture to urge, by courses 
of lectures, or lessons in pedagogic. Rather than so, let the clei'gymau take the 
first thouflitful man, no matter what liis acquirements, of wliose piety he is 
assured, and prepare him for his work, as he walks with him in the fields, or in 
the streets. I do not say that this is enough : far from it. I do not say that it 
is easy to meet with a man of good sense and right feeling, putting aside acquire- 
ment, to Avhom the oversight of children may be committed. I believe it will be 
found very difficult. But something in this way might be done — some fatlierly 
discipline estabhshed — some lessons of humble wisdom imparted. From the 
other mode nothing, in the long run, but mischief can ensue. Wherever mere 
attainment is made a principal consideration, there will be a perpetual iaiistaking 
of means for ends, and of semblance for reality. A little superficial knowledge, 
and a sliowy, self-sufficient cleverness, will be tlie product, the spirit and flavor 
of which Avill quickly evaporate, leaving behind either a mere caput mortmim, or 
a fermenting mass of restlessness, petulance, and discontent. Yet let rae not be 
misunderstood. My objection is not to lectures, or any other mode of facilitating 
acquirement ; still less to the acquirement itself. The former may be most use- 
ful, the latter most desirable. "What I resist is, the notion that either is sufficient 
— the one as a means, the other as a result. Normal education is not satisfied 
with a superstructure of faculties — it must lay a basis of character ; and the 
latter is the longer and the more difficult process. Not what a teacher knows, 
but what he is, should ever be the first point considered." 

Admission of Pupils. — Every applicant for admission must be at least 
fifteen years of age, and must submit the following testimonials : 1, a certif- 
icate of baptism ; 2, a declaration from the parents or guardians of the 
youth, stating that he has attended the services of the Church of England, 
with their consent and approbation, for the space of at least one twelve- 
month previous to the date of the application ; 3, a medical certificate, 
according to a printed form ; 4, a recommendation from a clergyman, who 
is requested to state, as particularly as possible, the grounds on which it is 
given, as well for the satisfoction of the National Society as to prevent dis- 
appointment and needless expense on the part of the youth and liis friends. 
Good moral character, amiability, truthfulness, and diligence, are indispen- 
sable requisites. Furtlier information is solicited as to the youth's temper 
and disposition, his abilities and attainments, his tastes and habits, his age, 
size, and physical strength, and as to any other matters from which his 
general fitness for the office of schoolmaster may be inferred. A certain 
degree of bodily as well as mental vigor is deemed indispensable. A strong, 
healthy, well-grov/n lad, of amiable disposition and promising talents, who 
shows an evident desire of knowledge, and has made a good use of the 
opportunities which he has already enjoyed, though these may not have 
been great, is considered to be the description of youth best fitted to fulfill 
the designs of the institution. 

The examination of each student for admission is preceded by the other 
inquiries specified in the following paragraph, which are to he answered in 
his own words, and in his own handwriting, in the presence of the clergyman 
by whom he is recommended, or some other trustworthy person : — 

" state your niinie and age the last binh-day ; when and where you were baptized ; whether 
you have been confinned, and by whom ; whether you have taken the sacrament of the Lord's 
iSupper, and if so, whether you are a regular communicant ? At what schools have you been 
educated, and for how long a time, and in what subjects have you been insti-ucted? Are you 
sincerely desirous of becoming a schoolmaster, and do you seek admission into the National So- 
ciety's Training College expressly to be fitted for that difficult and responsible office '! Are you 
prepared to lead in the College a simple and laborious life ; working with your hands as well as 
acquiring book-knowledge, and rendering an exact obedience to the disicipline of the place? 
Are you'aware that your path of duty on leaving the College will be principally, if not entirely, 
among the poor? And are you willing to apprentice yourself to the Society on that under- 
standing V" 

' Mode of Admission. — These certificates- having been received and approved. 



ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 



351 



the youth is directed to present himself for examination at the college. He 
is expected to read English prose with propriety, to spell correctly from 
dictation, to write a good hand, to be well acquainted with the outlines of 
Scripture liistory, and to show considerable readiness in working the funda- 
mental rules of arithmetic. Any further knowledge which he may possess, 
of whatever kind, is in his favor, not only, or so much, for its own sake, as 
on account of the studious turn of mind and aptness for receiving instruction 
which it may appear to indicate. A talent for vocal music and drawing is 
particularly desirable. 

In the event of his passing this examination with credit, he is received 
into the college, and remains there on probation for the first three months; 
after which, if his conduct shall have been satisfactory and he shall be found 
to possess the necessary qualifications, he is apprenticed to the National 
Society. From this period till tlie age of 21, the society is responsible for 
his education, clothing, and maintenance, being at liberty to make use of his 
services as a schoolmaster at any time and in any way that may be thought 
proper. In general, the period during which the apprentices are expected to 
remain under instruction at the college is three years, aficr v/hicli time 
they are to be placed in situations either as the masters of small schools, or 
more commonly as assistants in large ones. 

The Principal, in his Report, complains that many of the students admitted 
are deficient in the requisite preparation for the course of instruction pur- 
sued in tills institution. 

" Of those now on probation, or recently apprenticed,- a fair proportion are in- 
tellij{ont lads, of suitable temper and disposition ; but even of these, compara- 
tively few are properly prepared for the institution. Against this difficulty it is 
impossible to provide by mere exclusion, without reducing- the numbers admitted 
to an extent incompatible with the welfare, or indeed the existence, of the insti- 
tution. Not many of those recommended possess even that modicum of acquire- 
ment which might foirly be expected from a promising boy of twelve, not to say 
fifteen, years old. They cannot 'read well, that is, with intelhgence, nor write 
correctly from dictation.' I do not allude to slight and casual inaccuracies, but to 
a gener;il deficiency, the result of bad teaching. They are, for the most part, 
(juite ignorant of grammar ; and, what is worst of all, they are not sufficiently 
acquainted with the vocabulary of tlieir own language to profit even by oral 
teaching of a kind suitable to the college, much less to gain information for them- 
selves from books. Of geogi-aphy, not to say history, they are, for the most part, 
wholly ignorant, many having never seen a map. This description applies to 
different individuals in different degrees, and there are some to whom it does not 
apply at all ; but in a majority of cases it is necessary to ground the prijbationers 
afresh in the simplest rudiments of learning — to go over again the Tv^ork of an 
elementary school — with what loss to the pupils and disadvantage to the college, 
need not be told." 

Studies and Training cf the Pupils. — The subjects of instruction include 
Scriptural knowledge, and Bible literature, tlie doctrines of the Church and 
Church History, Latin, Music, English Grammar, General History, English 
Literature, Geography, Algebra, Geometry, Mechanics, Arithmetic, Drawing, 
and the art of Teaching under the designation of Normal lessons. 

The pupils leave their beds at half past 5 in the morning, and are again 
in bed at 10 at night, when the dormitory lights are extinguished by one of 
the elder youths; two of whom, under the inspection and control of the 
industrial teacher, are intrusted with the duty of lighting, regulating, and 
extinguishing the gas-lights throughout the estabhshment. This gives 
seven hours and a half for sleep. The remaining 16 hours and a half are 
thus divided : — they are allowed to remain, — 

One hour in their bed-rooms, half an hour in the morning, and the same 
time in the evening. This, however, includes the time spent in coming and 
going, &c. Habits of personal cleanliness, neatness, and order, are cai'e- 



352 



ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 



fully enforced. It is with this view, as well as for the purpose of private 
devo'iion, that a separate bed-room has been allotted to each youth. 

Four hours and a half are assigned to industrial occupations, of which 
half an hour is consumed in coming and going, getting out and putting by 
their tools, washing their hands, &c. 

The studies of the college commence at a quarter before 7, with the 
reading of a collect from the Prayer-Book. The period of time allotted to 
study and united devotion amounts to about 8 hours. 

Half aji hour is allowed for each of the three jneals, including the laying 
and removing of the cloth, &c. They breakfast at 8, dine at 1, and drink 
tea at 7. Before tea they sing for an hour. 

Two hours and a quarter are reserved for voluntary study and recreation, 
viz. the half hour before and after dinner, the half hour after tea, which is 
spent in family devotion, and an hour before bed-time, when the repetitions 
are learnt which are to be said next morning. 

The number of hours devoted weekly to each occupation is stated in the 
table subjoined. It will be observed that the greatest periods of time are 
given to Music and Latin, and the least to Arithmetic : — • 



Number of Hours devoted WecMy to each Occupation of the Students. 



OCCUPATION. 



1st 
Section. 



2d 
Seclion. 



1st aa 

Seclion. Section. 



Chapel 

Evening VVoisliip 

Scriptural Knowledge and Christian Doc- > 

trine (i. e. Articles) ) 

Church History and Bible Literature 

Latiri 

English Grammar, English Literature, and ) 

History \ 

Geography 

Writing 

Arithmetic 

Geometry 

Algebra and Trigonometry 

Mechanics and Natural Philosophy. •• — 

Music 

Drawing 

Normal Lessons 

Private Reading 

Preparing Lessons 

Meals ... 

Leisure 



6 

3 :jo 



2 20 

6 15 

7 10 

2 30 
30 

20 
2 50 
2 20 

2 

7 10 
4 

3 

1 30 

8 45 
6 



6 
3 30 



2 

6 

2 45 

2 30 
1 20 

35 

1 20 
5 40 
35 

7 10 
4 



9 

a 45 

6 



6 
3 30 



2 
6 

5 20 

1 20 
1 20 

1 10 

2 25 
2 40 

7"io 

4 



6 
3 30 



2 40 

3 



4 
2 40 
40 



7 10 
4 



9 9 
8 45 8 45 
6 6 



6 
3 30 



2 40 
C 



5 20 
4 
3 30 



7 10 
4 



9 

8 45 

e 



In addition to the seven hours devoted to musical instruction in each 
week, six hours more are allotted to the praclice of the Chapel service. On 
this point, Mr. Coleridge observes : — 

" If, however, the choral service, as performed in the chapel of St. Mark's 
College, be in itself unobjectionable ; if, in truth, it have been adopted from a 
sense of its superior beauty and fitness under the circumstances of the case — it 
may be mentioned, as a further recommendation, that it furnishes the best, if not 
the only mcanp, compatible with other exigencies, of imparting to the students 
of this institution that skill in the art of singing which is noAv so generally desired, 
if not expected, in a parochial schoolmaster. No system of teaching vocal mu.«ic, 
however excellent, can dispense with the necessity of long and continuous prac- 
tice; time for which could not have been afforded in this college, if it had not 
been found possible to unite the acquirement of this art witii its best and princi- 
pal use. As it is, the seed-time and harvest of instruction are to a certain 
extent combined, the grain being sown and the sheaves gathered by the same 
process and at the same time. In plain terms, the musical skill required for the 



ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 



353 



performance of the choral service is supplied, in some considerable measure, by 
the service itself; and, indeed, as these youths have not been selected, generally 
•speaking, with any reference to musical capacity, and are not destined for the 
exclusive or gainful exercise of the musical profession, it would, I believe, have 
been found difficult to exact from them that close and unremitting attention to 
tJiis study whicli it indispensably requires, and which they now bestow upon it, 
were it not for the pressure of a motive at once so sacred and so stimulating, 
coupled with the guidance and encouragement of a teacher who, to a practical 
acquaintance with Church music, such as could be looked for only in a master 
of the art, adds the authority derived from his position as vice-principal of the 
college." 

" It is not, indeed, intimated that any opportunity for the practice of singing, 
however favorable, can dispense with the necessity of regular elementary in- 
struction in the principles of music. It is a great advantage to acquire a foreign 
language in the country where it is spoken ; but it will be proper, nevertheless, 
to acquire it grammatically. Now the services of the chapel render music, as it 
were, a living language in this college, which the youths catch up insensibly by 
hearing and imitation — a language, moreover, heard only in its purest and noblest 
form, by which the taste of the student is cultivated, togeth'er with his powers 
of execution. And when it is remembered how much the success of a singer 
depends upon meclianical proficiency, apart from the interesting science which 
gives to the study its intellectual character, it will not be thought that too much 
stress is laid upon that training of the ear and voice which the students go 
through, independently of any course of lessons. On the other hand, it is felt 
that, without the intellectual character above alluded to, the study, or, to speak 
more properly, the pursuit, of vocal music would not merely be imperfect, but of 
doubtful benefit, taken as a branch of general education. And if it should be 
said, that all the theoretical knowledge, necessary to a vocalist will come in the 
end by an analytical as opposed to the usual elementary methods (a result which 
can only be expected in the most favorable cases), it would yet be necessary 
that those wlio learn in order that they may teach, should be made acquainted 
with some sj/stem of instruction, capable of easy and general application. In 
adopting that which owes so much to the peculiar genius of Blr. Hullah, regard 
has been had both to the intrinsic excellence of the method itself, and to the 
ready machinery with which it is supplied. 

'• it thus appears that there are two kinds of musical instruction always going 
on together, and mutually assisting each other. The art of reading music, with 
the requisite knowledge of musical notation, is conveyed through the medium of 
Mr. Hullah's ' Granunar of Vocal Music,' under the very able superintendence 
of Mr. May ; one division of the students being under his own tuition, while a 
junior class is carried through the earlier portion of the course by one of the 
pupils. A third section, more advanced than either of the preceding, has the 
further advantage of lectures on harmony and counterpoint from Mr. Hullah 
himself. These three divisions correspond generally to the three years of resi- 
dence — an arrangement by which every branch of study in the college is more 
or less regulated. An exact correspondence is obviously impracticable — some 
youths bringing with them a larger amount of musical knowledge and proficiency 
than others can be expected to attain at any period of their lives. Much, it is 
true, has been done to produce a respectable mediocrity ; but excellence will 
depend, after all, on individual qualifications." 

The reasons for embracing the study of Latin in the scheme of instruc- 
tion arc thus set forth: — 

As it is considered a leading object of national education, as viewed in 
connection with the church to raise the speech, and by implication the un- 
derstanding of the people to the level of the liturgy, the uses of language, 
that priceless talent of reading the thoughts of others and of communicating 
our own in writing, has been kept prominently in view as one of those first 
principles by which the studies of the college should be regulated ; and in 
conformity with these notions Latin is taught (so far as may be necessary 
to lay the foundations of a sound acquaintance with the accidence, syntax, 



354 ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 

and etymology of that language), as an essential part of the course. This 
knowledge has been considered, if not necessary for the teacher of English, 
tQ be, at least, in the highest degree useful. The majority of the pupils are 
not carried beyond the accidence of the Eton Latin Grammar and Arnold's 
third Latin exercise book ; a few who, previously to their admission, had 
acquired the rudiments, have been carried further, and some five or six who 
have attained a knowledge of Greek, apart from the teaching of the institu- 
tion, are encouraged by the principal in its cultivation, so far as may conduce 
to the understanding of the original text of the New Testament, on the ex- 
press provision, however, that these and the like studies do not in the slightest 
degree interfere with the more immediate objects of the institution, or with 
the due performance of its humblest duties. 

Indusirial Occupations. — Tlie industrial occupations of the students con- 
sist in the labors of the farm, the garden, the house, lithography, and book- 
binding. 

" The advantages, I had almost said the necessity, of balancing the intellectual 

fiursuits of the students by manual labor, scarcely need to be further insisted on. 
t is, in tlie first place, the only way in which such an institution could be sup- 
ported, except at an enormous expense ; but this is the least consideration. It 
IS almost the only mode in which the hours not occupied in study could be prof- 
itably and innocently passed by a promiscuous assemblage of youths, almost all 
of whom have so much both to learn and to unlearn. Above all, that wliich is 
learned in this way is itself a most valuable acquirement, mc]-e especially to the 
Bchoolmaster of the poor. Not merely will it enable him to increase his own 
comforts without cost, but it will make him practically acquainted with the occu- 
pations of those whom he has to instruct, and thus procure him an additional 
title to their confidence when lie comes to act among them, not merely as their 
teacher, but as their adviser and friend." 

" Hitlierto the difficulty has been to perform the necessary work of the estab- 
lishment in a satisfactory manner without encroaching on the hours of study — 
nothing being so much to be avoided as a hasty, imperfect, or slovenly perform- 
ance. The method pursued is as follows : — The several duties — whetlier of the 
house, the farm, or the garden — are assigned to different parties, varyhig in num- 
ber according to the need, which are changed at stated periods, generally weekly. 
Over each of these parties a monitor is appointed, care being taken so to sort 
the parties that the influence of the older and steadier youths may be continu- 
ally exerted over their younger or less experienced associates. One youth, the 
eldest of .those first admitted, is over the whole. It is his duty to arrange the 
labors of the day, under the superintendence of the industrial master, and to 
inspect the different working-parties when needful. He is also expected to hear 
complaints, and to settle any trifluig difference which may have arisen. The 
monitor of each party is expected to maintain order among those Avhose labors 
he directs ; and, to speak generally, the discipline of the place is, as far as possi- 
ble, carried on by the moral influence of the youths over each other, a most 
watchful supervision being maintained by the masters. The direct interference 
of the principal is not resorted to except in cases of necessity. Faults are cor- 
rected by admonition, and, if need be, by rebuke, either private or public, as the 
case may seem to require. It is sometimes advisable to make the admonition 
general, without naming those for whom it is specially intended. A journal of 
conduct is also kept, which will, it is hoped, have a beneficial effect ; and every 
youth is occasionally reminded that his prospects when he shall have left the 
institution, depend upon his conduct Avhile in it. No prominence, however, is 
given to this or to any other secondary motive. Good conduct can only be pro- 
duced, in the long run, by a sense of duty, or by the habit which it produces 
when it becomes a matter of course ; and this habitual sense of duty is best 
encouraged by a mode of treatment from which every appeal to motive, strictly 
so called, is excluded. I believe this to be not merely the highest, but the most 
practical view of the question ; and although in such a matter the utmost that 
can without presumption be expected, is a partial, and, under the Divin(> bless- 
mg, a growing success, yet it may with some degree of confidence be aflirmed, 



ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 355 

that it has been already borne out by facts. The particular methods by which 
cheerful obedience, regularity, diligence, and general good conduct are to be pre- 
served in a training establishment, more especially in the industrial department, 
cannot be detailed witliin the limits of this report. Tliey vary with tlie exigency, 
and are suggested in each case by tlie judgment, experience, goodfeehng, and 
educational tact of those by whom the establishment is conducted. It will be 
understood that the whole rests upon a religious basis, and is referred constantly, 
and expressly, yet not obtrusively, to a religious standard ; care being taken to 
prevent phrases and professions from anticipating the growth of real feelings. 

" The business of the house is partly performed by the students, and partly 
by female servants. The former clean all the shoes, and knives, <fec., lay the 
cloth, (fee, and wait at meals, sweep and dust the school-rooms, keep the courts 
clean, light and attend to all the lires except those in the kitchen department, 
regulate the gas-lights, keep up a constant supply of water throughout the col- 
lege by means of a forcing-pump, and attend to the drainage, which is also 
effected by means of a pump. It has not been thought advisable that they 
should make their beds or wash the floors. It is not likely tliat they will ever 
be called upon to perform these offices when they leave the college, while the 
loss of time, and the injury done to their clothes, more than counterbalance any 
pecuniary' saving which could in this way be effected. 

" The labors of the farm are principally coniined to the care of domestic ani- 
mals — cows and pigs, and poultry of various kinds. The cows are milked by the 
youths, and an accurate account kept of the produce of the farm and dairy, which 
is consumed almost entirely in the establishment. The utihty of this part of the 
establishment is too evident to require a comment. 

" The gardens, lawns, and shrubberies furnish abundant employment for those 
not otherwise engaged ; and though a considerable portion of time and attention 
is necessarily allotted to ornamental horticulture, yet this will be found by no 
means the least useful or the least appropriate feature of the scheme. There ia 
perhaps no form in which habits of manual industry can be encouraged more 
easily or more beneficially, either with a view to the immediate or to the ulterior 
effect, than by the occupations of the garden. Not to mention their effect upon 
the healtli and happiness of the youths, or the lessons which they teach of pa- 
tience, order, and neatness, they are decidedly favorable to the growth of intelli- 
gence, and this of the best kind — more particularly when connected with the 
study of botany, which may with peculiar propriety be called the poor man's 
science. When studied on physiological principles, its close connection with the 
best and holiest truths give it a yet higher claim to our attention. 

" Looking forward to the future position of our students, almost every country 
fichoolniaster might be, with much advantage, both to himself and to his neigh- 
borhood, a gardener and a florist. The encouragement lately afforded to cottage 
gardening has been already attended with the most pleasing results. The paro- 
chial schoolmaster who shall be able to assist by example and precept in fostering 
a taste so favorable to the domestic happiness, and, in fact, to the domestic vir- 
tues of a rustic population — a taste by which an air of comfort is communicated 
to the rudest dwelling, and a certain grace thrown over the simplest forms of 
humble life — will, it is trusted, in this as in so many other ways, be made an 
instrument of good, and an efficient assistant to the parochial clergyman." 

In connection with the moral purposes of the industrial occupations of 
the students, the office of the industrial master is considered of the highest 
importance. 

" It is his duty to maintain order and enforce disciphne — not, however, by 
mere drill, however skillfully organized or efficiently conducted, but by the in- 
fluence of his example and the force of his character ; to live among them, and 
to lead them on, as well by precept as by occasionally sharing in their occupa- 
tions, to simple, industrious, and strictly regular habits ; to settle disputes and 
allay jealousies ; to correct personal conceit and every the least approach to a 
love of show and finery ; to recommend (and this not by words only) an humble 
and dutiful industriousness, setting forth the religious obligation and beneficial 
tendency, not merely of labor in general, but of bodily labor in particular, as a 



S56 



ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 



blessing growing out of, and, in the case of those by -whom it is rightly used, 
superseding, if I may so speak, the penal character of toil, through Him by 
whom, after an ineifable manner, it has been rendered holy, honorable, and of 
good report in the Church ; — all this with a reference to the special aim of the 
institution, as an instrument for elevating and ameliorating the lot of the labor- 
ing poor." 

Schools of Practice. — Opportunities for practice in teaching and con- 
ducting school are afforded in a Practicing or Model School, on the 
premises, and the Chelsea Parochial School. The Model School is com- 
posed of 142 -children, of whom a certain number are admitted upon the 
free list, and the rest pay a fee of 4d per week, or 3s. per quarter. The 
latter arc principally children of respectable mechanics, market-gardeners, 
and working-people. Mr. Coleridge thus characterizes them: — 

" There are among them many very promising lads, in "whom a toward nature, 
and perhaps some home-training, must share whatever praise may be thought 
due to their actual character and attainments. It is from these and such as these, 
wherever they may be found, that I would select our future teachers. Many of 
tliem come from a considerable distance — as much as two or even thi-ee miles — 
bringing their dinners with them, which they eat in the school-room, under the eye 
of a teacher ; tlie same attention being paid to the propriety of their behavior as if 
they were boarders. Their little hymn of praise is sung by themselves at the 
beginning and conclusion of their simple meal, the materials of which in most 
cases indicate but a scanty competence at home ; while the sum paid for tlieir 
schooling, as well as the punctuality of their attendance, are each of them — the 
latter, perhaps, not less than the former — a proof that considerable efforts, and 
even sacrifices, will bo made by respectable persons of this class to procure 
what they consider good instruction for their children." 

It having been considered expedient to extend yet further the facilities for 
practice in the art of teaching supplied to the students, and to make them 
familiar with it in its application to schools more nearly of the same class 
with those the charge of which will ultimately devolve upon them, an ar- 
rangement has been made by which a certain number of them are employed 
daily in the Chelsea Parochial School. To facilitate the details of this 
arrangement, one of the students, whose term of training has expired, haa 
been appointed to the office of master of that school, with permission to 
reside in the college, from whence the students accompany him daily to the 
school. Mr. Coleridge thus speaks of the connection of this school with 
the institution : — 

" If the practicing school should be thought not to prepare the young men for 
the difficulties of their vocation — the children being of a better sort, or taught 
under greater advantages, than they can expect to find hereafter — no such ob- 
jection lies against the parochial school. Nothing can be more humble — I might 
almost say, abject — than the domestic condition, generally speaking, of the poor 
children, who are hei'e provided, not merely with instruction, but with the motive 
to seek it — with the clothes without which many would not, and others could 
not, come to school at all. Some, indeed, of the children pay a penny a week ; 
but the greater number are taught gratuitously, and of these as many are com- 
fortably clothed as the funds at the command of the committee will permit. 
The benevolence of the directors, and in particular of the rector of the parish, is 
specially directed toward the children of the very poor — attracted by the 
niisery, undeterred by the vice and self-abandonment with which the lowest 
estate of poverty is too often attended. Hence they have been unwilling to 
raise the character of the school by any means inconsistent with this charitable 
object, and would rather do a little good to those who want it so much, than 
seem to do more to those who want it less. But, as intimated above, the very 
difficulties by which the school is embarrassed — whether from the character of 
the children or any other cause — enhance the value of the expeiience which may 
be gained in it by the teachers ; and although some time must elapse before the 



ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. g^ij. 

effects of the present management upon the welfare of the school can appear, 
yet it is hoped that an improvement has already taken place beneath the sur- 
lace. This connection — with the results of wliich, so far as they have gone, I am 
autliorized to state that the rector of the parish is fully satisfied — will relieve 
the funds of the school to a certain extent, without burdening those of the 
National Society." 

Mr. Moseley, the Inspector, submits tlie following remarks at the close of 
his Report, on the condition of this Institution in 1846: — 

" No purpose of such an institution is obviously of equal importance with that 
which proposes to itself the formation of tlie religious character of the students, 
in the true and comprehensive sense of that term ; and it is with heartfelt pleas- 
ure that I bear testimony to the impression left upon my mind by my visits to 
St. Mark's College, of the success with which religious influences have, under the 
blessing of God, been made to operate there. 

" If the moral aspect of the institution be that in which it is most grateful to 
contemplate it ; if in the cheerful conformity of the students to the I'ules of its 
discipline, in their submissive deportment toward their superiors, and their steady 
pursuit of an arduous path of duty, there be evidence of a dedicated and a 
chastened spirit ; if their intercourse with tlie children whose education is in- 
trusted to their charge, be chai'acterized not less by that kindly tone and that 
humanized demeanor, than by that more just recognition of their social position 
and truer self-respect, which are usually associated with a gentler birth than 
theirs, and a more careful mu'ture ; all these advantages, so inestimable in them- 
selves, and in their relation to the purposes of the institution, are the legitimate 
fruits of tlie formation of a religious character, and are evidences of its exist- 
ence. To the formation of such a character, the prominence given in the system 
of the institution to the services of the college chapel, cannot but contribute in 
an eminent degree ; and in assigning to them the first place among those cliarac- 
teristic features of the system which I am desirous to bring under your lord- 
ships' notice, I am not only following the order in which they came under my 
own observation, but assigning to them their due place and their relative import- 
ance. The chapel is, in Mi". Coleridge's system, ' the key -stone to the arch.' " 
■» * * * * *"* * * 

Passing to the subject of secular instruction, I am desirous to record my 
entire adhesion, in a general sense, to the views entertained by Mr. Coleridge on 
the relative importance of literature and science, as proper elements of a course 
of secular instruction in its adaptation to the purposes of this institution. These 
views are set forth in the following paragraphs of his last letter : — 

" What these lads want is power of thought and language. Their verbal 
memory is dormant ; they are incapable of the simplest abstraction. Till this 
be remedied, they can neither classify nor analyze ; they cannot vary tiie form 
without changing the matter ; tliey cannot illustrate — they cannot explain ; in a 
word, they cannot teach. They have learned a certain number of facts — or 
rather, perliaps, a form of words in wliich facts are recounted — and might easily 
be taught a great many more in the same way ; but they cannot combine or 
emphiy them, or so much as recognize them in an altered dress." * * 

" Science, however valuable in itself as a discipline of the mind, and however 
useful in its application to the mechanic arts, is of no avail for the purposes 
above mentioned. It will not enable an ignorant boy to express himself with 
common propriety ; it will not furnish him witli the machinery of thought, or pre- 
pare him for the acquisition of knowledge in general. It will indeed strengthen 
his faculties, and raise him intellectually in tiie scale of being, but it will not 
serve as a foundation. Again, from whatever cause, it is not found to have the 
same effect as studies of another description in softening and refining the charac- 
ter ; and though this may be easily carried to excess, yet to humanize the coarse, 
rude natures, common in a greater or less degree to all uneducated boys, and in 
this way to gentle their condition, is among tlie most important ends of the insti- 
tutif>n." 

Whatever difference of opinion there may be as to some of those considera- 
tions by which Mr. Coleridge has tlius sought to define the respective provinces 
£)£ science and literature, there can, in my opinion, be none as to the general 



358 ^T. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 

result at ■which he has arrived. I believe that he has assigned to each its due 
importance, and that each actually holds, in the system of the institution, its 
legitimate place, and receives its due share of attention. 

-X- * * -X- * * * * * 

There is, liowever, a second stage in the education of a schoolmaster. He 
must not only have acquii'ed the knowledge which he has to communicate, but 
be acquainted with the best methods of communicating it, and thoroughly prac- 
ticed in tlie use of those methods. All the elements of education hitherto spoken 
of, are common to him and to every other educated man, and are not peculiar to 
a training college : tlie functions of such a college are not discharged until a pro- 
fessional education is superadded. 

It is in the experience of every teacher, that to embrace a truth one's self, and 
to be able to present it under the simplest form to the mind of another, are es- 
sentially different things : the one is a condition necessary, but not sufficient to 
the realization of the other. 

I am not urging the claims of any of the particular schemes, or methods of 
instruction, which may at any time have been propounded, although I believe 
that the students in such an institution should be conversant with all of them ; 
I am simply insisting on the necessity of making teaching, as a?i art, the subject 
of study in a training college, in respect to each subject taught ; of viewing each 
such subject under a double aspect, as that which is to become an element of the 
student's own knowledge^ and as that which he is to be made capable of present- 
ing under so simple a form, that it may become an element of the knowledge of 
a child. If it be said that such knowledge will be given by that practice of the 
art of teaching which will form the occupation of the student's future life, I ask 
whether it is not in the experience of every person conversant with education, 
that a master may be possessed of all the knowledge lie is called upon to teach ; 
and far more than it — he may, in the ordinary sense of the word, and even in its 
highest sense, be an educated man ; and to tliese qualifications lie may add the 
experience of a whole life spent in tuition, and yet never have become a skillful 
teacher. 

Appealing to my own experience as an inspector, I can bear testimony to the 
fact that among the schools of which my opinion is recorded the least favorably, 
are some, whose demerits are not to be attributed to any want of education or 
of general intelligence in their masters, or of a character formed upon Christian 
principles, but simply to ignorance of the art of teaching. 

If 1 were asked (supposing tiie requisite knowledge of the subject taught) 
what constituted a good teacher ? I should say, an habitual study of the best 
methods, and of the art of teaching. And if it were inquired of me Avhy so few 
good teachers were to be found ? I should say, because so few slndy it — or look 
upon it, indeed, at all in the light of a proper subject of study. 

It is true tliat, as in all other branches of practical knowledge, some possess 
greater natural advantages for the acquisition of the art of teaching than otliers, 
and, by the prompting of these, being led to the study of it, become self-taught 
in it. And, in like manner, if any other branch of knowledge, now the subject 
of ordinary instruction, had never been analyzed and simplified for that purpose, 
or tauglit systematically — and if all men were, under these circumstances, left to 
their own i-esources in the acquisition of it, and to their own choice whetlier 
they would acquire it or not — yet some, incited and encom-aged to the pursuit 
of it by the bent of what is called genius, would find out for themselves the 
path which leads to it, overleap the intervening difficulties, and attain it. 

I beheve it to be tlius with the art of teaching. Some few, by dint of natural 
qualifications, acquire that skill which a systematic course of instruction would 
make in a great degree common to all ; and thus the false opinion has grown up 
that no man can become a good schoolmaster who is not endowed naturally with 
peculiar qualifications for the office. 

It is to be borne in Tnind that the work of the elementary schoolmaster is one 
of no ordinary difficulty. A crowd of poor children is brought to him, in whom 
the moral sense is in abeyance — who have never been tauglit to think — who have 
little or no knowledge which may form the subject of thought, and are without 
the means of acquiring that knowledge. He must teach them to read, to write, 
to cipher, and impart to them the elements of religious knowledge : but this is 



ST. RIARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 



359 



not all : he will fail of tlie really valuable results of education if he do not fur- 
ther teach tlieni to tliinlf and to understand — store their minds witli legitimate 
subjects of thought, and cultivate the habit of self-instruction. 

For tlie accomplislnnent of these objects, the time allowed to liim is short, the 
means limited, and often inadequate. 

If he have beforehand weighed the difficulties and discouragements of his 
work, carefully and systematically studied tlie best methods of encountering 
them, considered the various circumstances of the application of those methods, 
and tlie modifications thereby rendered proper to tliem, and practiced himself in 
the use of them ; and if, actuated by tlie liighest motives — in reliance on tlie 
Divine blessing — strong in tlie requisite preparation, but without extravagant 
hopes of the result — he tlien give his heart to the work, and pursue it hopefully, 
cheerfully, and perseveriiigly — it will prosper in his Jiands. 

Without such a preparation, his first impulse will be to sit down and weep; 
his second, in desp<iir of any useful result, to shrink into the mere mechanical 
discharge of his school duties. 

The elementary schoolmaster must be a man of action : his functions are 
aggrexsive, and call for the exercise of decision of character, a prompt judgment, 
a ready skill, and a facile intelligence. A passive, impressible, abstracted, and 
exclusively literary character, however pleasing as the subject of speculation, in 
connection with the office of a village schoolmaster, is foreign to the business of 
a great school. 

I can imagine no concurrence of circumstances better calculated to form an 
efficie.it schoolmaster, tlian a previous course of professional instruction, subdued 
in every pliase and form of its development to that one object ; assigning not to 
a single teacher the realization of that object, but concentrating the labors of aU 
— each in his own department — upon it. To youths who had enjoyed the advan- 
tages of a course of instruction like this, the duties of a schoolmaster's life, and 
its responsibilities, would have become, in some sort, a second nature. That am- 
bition which receives so early its impulse, would, in minds thus preoccupied, 
obtain its legitimate direction, and the labor of their office would become less 
irksome to them Avhen looked upon in the light of an exercise of skilL not less 
than a duty. 

The following remarks on the results of the methods pursued in this 
Institution, and, incidentally, in other Institutions of the same kind, are 
taken from the Report of Mr. Moseley, in 1847 : — 

If, with reference to its professional bearings, there be any defect in the pre- 
scribed course, it does not appear to lie in this, tliat it aims at too liigh a 
standard of attainment in every subject to which the attention of the students is 
dhected. 

It is not to be supposed that, to become good teachers, they can know too 
much of the subjects they have to teach. Of the elementary lessons it has been 
my duty to listen to and to pass a judgment upon, here and elsewhere, the ijre- 
vailing and characteristic defect has been, not too much knowledge, but too 
little. Had the teacher known more of the subject of liis lesson, it has been my 
constant observation, that he would have been able to select from it tilings 
better adapted for the instruction of children. Had his mind been more highly 
cultivated, and the resources of his intellect brought by education more fully 
under his control, he would have been able to place them under simpler forms, 
and in a better manner to adapt the examination founded upon them to the in- 
dividual capacities of the children lie had to teach. Accordingly, the .mnplest 
lesso7is I have listened to in training schools, have commonly been those delivered 
by the ablest and best-instructed students. 

It is not the fact, that the teacher knows too much, which makes him unintelli- 
gible to the child, but, that lie knows nothing which the child can comprehend, 
or that he has never studied what he has to teach in the light in wliich a child 
can be made to comprehend it. 

That fulhiess of knowledge on the part of the teacher, of which my experience 
has led me to appreciate the importance, is a fulhiess of the knowledge of things 
adapted to the instruction of chiJdien, studied under the forms hi wliich they are 

23 



360 ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. 

most readily intelligible to them ; of things learned in the light in which they 
are also to be taught. ■ It includes, notwithstanding, the knowledge of many 
things which a child can never be expected to know. That the teacher may be 
able to present the subject under its most elementary form to the mind of the 
child, he must himself have gone to the root of it. That he may exhaust it of 
all that it is capable of yielding for the child's instruction, he must have compassed 
the whole of it. 

In his preparation for the discharge of functions such as these, even with 
respect to that limited number of subjects which enter into the business of ele- 
mentary instruction, there is ample room, and verge enough, for a long course of 
study, which, whilst on the one hand it is strictly professional in its bearings, 
yields to no other, as a means of accomplishing the highest objects of a general 
education. 

It is not, however, to be denied, that in that function of a training school which 
is directed to the simple acquisition of knowledge separated from, or exercised 
out of the view of, that other which contemplates the imparting of it, there is a 
tendency to defeat the object for wliich such institutions have been established. 

Every man must be conscious of a separation made by education, between his 
own mind and that of a less educated man ; a separation Avhich enlarges with 
each step of his intellectual progress, and which is widened to its utmost con- 
ceivable limits, when the relation is that of a poor ignoi'ant child to a teacher 
otherwise liighly instructed, but who knows nothing likely to interest the child, 
or has been accustomed to study nothing in the light in which it may be made 
intelligible to the child. Their intercourse, under these circumstances, caimot 
but be mutually distasteful, and the school must be to both equally a place of 
bondage ; the child neither benefiting by it as a learner, nor the master as a 
teacher. 

Every thing which I have observed leads to the conclusion, that the course of 
the training school, to be successful, must not be limited to the one function of 
giving the student the learning he may require ; the other, that which concerns 
the art of teaching, being left to self-instruction and to practice. 

One of those results of the recent examination of the Battersea Training 
School, which appeared to me the most important, was the progress the school- 
masters who came up for examination had obviously made, as teachers, since 
they left the Institution, placing them in this respect greatly in advance of the 
resident students. I have not observed the same result in institutions where 
the importance of the study of the art of teaching is not to the same extent felt, 
and wiiere the relation of the elementary school to the training college is not so 
constantly kept in view. 

It struck me as remarkable, in the lessons delivered by the candidates for cer- 
tificates in the model-school at St. Mark's, that there was no attempt made to 
transfer the knowledge to be communicated directly from the mind of the teacher 
to the minds of the children. 

Tlieir idea of an oral lesson seemed to be comprised in an examination. Nor 
was it a questioning of knowledge from their own minds to those of the children, 
by that process which is called the interrogative method, but, simply, a viva voce 
examination into what the children actually knew, limited for the most part to 
the subject-matter of some lesson which they had previously read ; and as it did 
not tlms enter apparently into the teacher's idea of an oral lesson that the cliil- 
dren sliould know any thing more when it was completed than when it began, so 
did tliis seem to be tlie result. 

In the printed form of report on the qualifications of candidates for certificates, 
one of the questions we are instructed to answer has reference to tlie character 
oj the " Exposition" of tlie candidate in teaching, whether it be fluent or not. 
The answer recorded to this question in almost every case which came under 
our observation at St. Mark's is, "No exposition." With reference to the same 
question at Battersea, we have recorded that, in the lessons we listened to there, 
there was too much exposition, and too little examination. At Chester the two 
seemed to be more judiciously united in the proportions of a good lesson. There 
was tliis feature, moreover, worthy of observation in the lessons delivered in the 
Chester School, that the tcaclier broke up his lesson into parts, teaching by the 
way of exposition, only so long at one time as not to weary the attention of the 



ST. MARK'S TRAINING COLLEGE. ggj 

children, and overburden their memories, then examining upon that portion, 
afterward taking up the subject where he had left it off, and thus continuing, 
the process until the lesson was completed, when he examined upon the whole 
of it. 

Oral teaching requires, more than any other, constant seZ/"-teaching on the part 
of the master. It is a method which will be adopted by no master who is not 
of a dedicated spirit and fond of his work. Besides, however, that satisfaction 
which he will derive from it in the success of his school, he will not fail to expe- 
rience this other, that whatever, for this object, he teaches himself, will be fixed 
more firmly in liis mind, and that his knowledge of it will receive a character of 
clearness and precision not, perhaps, otherwise to be gained. 

In the teachmg of the students of all the Training Institutions I have observed, 
and it was perhaps to be expected, a perpetual tendency to travel out of the 
sphere of the intelligence of the children, and out of the hmits of that kind of 
knowledge which is hkely to interest or to benefit them ; but nowhere does 
there appear to be less effort made to subdue this tendency, and systematically 
to subject the lesson, both as to the matter and the manner of it, to the exi- 
gencies of the child, tlian at St. Mark's College. Nothing would tend so effectu- 
ally to correct this evil as the addition to the staft' of the Institution of a model 
elementary teacher, on whose efforts those of the students might, with advantage, 
be formed, and to which they might be encom-aged to refer them as a standard. 



•NORMAL SCHOOL 

FOR THE TRAINING OF PAUOCUIAL SCHOOLMASTERS, 

AT BATTERSEA, ENGLAND. 



The Battersca Training Establishment is the most interesting institution 
in Enghind for the professional education of teachers. It was founded in 
1839, by Jaraea Phillips Kay* (now Sir James Kay Shuttleworth), Secretary 
of the Committee of Council on Education, and E. C. Tufnel, Esq., Assist- 
ant Poor-Law Commissioner, with two distinguishing objects : — 

1. To give an example of normal education for schoolmasters, comprising tlie 
formation of character, the development of the intelligence, appropriate technical 
instruction, and the acquisition of method and practical skill in conducting an 
elementary school. 

2. To illustrate the truth that, without violating the rights of conscience, 
masters trained in a spirit of Christian charity, and instructed in the discipline 
and doctrines of the Clmrch, might be employed hi the mixed schools necessarily 
connected with public establishments, and in wliich children of persons of all 
shades of religious opinion are assembled. 

It was founded as a private enterprise, and at an expense of ^12,000 to 
the individuals named, in the hope that it might be employed, if the experi- 
ment should prove successful, by the Government, in supplying teachers for 
schools of industry for pauper children, like those at Norwood, Manchester, 
Liverpool, and elsewhere ; for reformatory institutions for juvenile criminals ; 
for '• ragged schools" for neglected and vagrant children in large cities ; and 
for schools of royal foundation at dock-yards and in men-of-war. The 
original constitution impressed upon the normid school was conceived in 
this view. But, in 1843, the institution, having proved successful, and it 
being no longer convenient for its founders personally to superintend its 
operations, was transferred to the management of the National Society, for 
the purpose of being also instrumental in spreading a truly Christian 
civilization through the masses of the people in manufacturing districts. 
In announcing this fact, the founders, in their Report in 1843, remark: — 

Our personal experience had made us early acquainted with the absence of a 
growth in the spiritual and intellectual life of the masses, corresponding with 
the vast material prosperity of tlie mnnufactui'ing districts. 

We had witnessed the failure of efi'orts to found a scheme of combined educa- 
tion on the emancipation of infants from the slavery into which the necessities 
and ignorance of their parents, and the intensity of commercial competition, had 
sold them. 

To arrest the progress of degeneracy toward materialism and sensuality, ap- 
peared to us to be the task most worthy of citizens in a nation tJireatened by 
corruption from the consequences of ignorance and excessive labor among her 
lower orders. 

It is impossible that the legislature should, year after year, receive and pub- 
lish such accounts of the condition of the people as are contained in the Reports 

* Mr. Kay in 1813 assumed the nnmo of FhnUIeworth, in consequence ofreceivino; a IcRncy 
from ;i person of thai name ; and in 184J was knight;jd by thu queen, for his services to Ihc causs 
uf elumeutitry iustrucLiun. 



3(54 BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

of the Hand-loom "Weavers' Commission, or of the Commission on the Employ- 
ment of Women and Children, or that on the Dwellings of the Poor and on the 
Sanitary Condition of Large Towns, without resolving to confer on the poor 
some great reward of patience, by offering national secmity for their future- 
welfare. 

These considerations have a general relation, but the state of the manufacturing 
poor is that Avliich awakens the greatest apprehension. The labor which they 
undergo is excessive, and they sacrifice their wives and infants to the claims of 
their poverty, and to the demands of the intense competition of trade. Almost 
every thing around them tends to materialize and inflame them. 

They are assembled in masses, — they are exposed to the physical evils arising 
from the neglect of sanitary precautions, and to the moral contamination of 
towns, — they ai'e accustomed to combine in trades-unions and political associa- 
tions, — they are more accessible by agitators, and more readily excited by them. 

The time for inquiry into their condition is past, the period for the interference 
of a sagacious national forethought is at hand. We therefore felt that the im- 
muient risks attending this condition of the manufacturing poor established the 
largest claim on an institution founded to educate Christian teachers for the 
people. 

No material change has been made in the plan of the school in conse- 
quence of thia transfer of management, or enlargement of the design ; and 
the history of its establishment and original constitution will therefore be 
both appropriate and profitable to an understanding of its present opera- 
tions. The following account is drawn from' the " First and Second Reports 
on the Training School at Batiersea, to the Poor-Law Commissioners^^ 
published in a volume entitled " Reports on the Training of Pauper Chil- 
dren. 1841." 

The training of pauper children in a workhouse or district school cannot be 
successful unless the teacher be moved by Christian charity to the work of rear- 
ing in religion and industry the outcast and orphan children of our rural and city 
population. The difficulty of redeeming by education the mischief wrought in 
generations of a vicious parentage, can be estimated only by those who know 
liow degenerate these children are. 

The pauper children assembled at Norwood, from the garrets, cellars, and 
wretched rooms of alleys and courts in the dense parts of London, are often sent 
thither in a low stage of destitution, covered only with rags and vermin ; often 
the victims of chronic disease; almost universally stunted in their gi'owth; and 
sometimes emaciated with want. The low-browed and mexpressive physiog- 
nomy or malign aspect of the boys is a true index to the mental darkness, the 
stubborn tempers, the hopeless spu'its, and the vicious habits on which the 
master has to work. He needs no small support from Christian faith and charity 
tor the successful prosecution of such a labor ; and no quality can compensate for 
the v/ant of that spirit of self-sacrifice and tender concern for the well-being of 
these children, without which their instruction would be any thing but a labor of 
love. A baker, or a shoemaker, or a shop apprentice, or commercial clerk, cannot 
be expected to be imbued with this spirit, during a residence of six months in 
the neighborhood of a model-school, if he has not imbibed it previously at its 
source. 

The men who undertake tliis work should not set about it in the spirit of 
hirelings, taking the speediest means to procure a maintenance with the least 
amount of trouble. A commercial country will always offer irresistible tempta- 
tions to desert such a profession, to those to v.'hom the annual stipend is the 
chief if not sole motive to exertion. The outcast must remain neglected, if 
there be no principle which, even in the midst of a commercial people, will 
enable men to devote themselves to this vocation from higher motives than 
the mere love of money. 

Experience of the motives by which the class of schoolmasters now plying 
then- trade in this country are commonly actuated, is a graver source of want of 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL, 3Q5 

confidence in their ability to engage in this labor, than the absence of skill in 
their profession. A great number of them undertake these duties either because 
they are incapacitated bv age or infirmity for any other, or because they have 
failed in all other attempts to procure a livelihood, or because, in the absence of 
well-qualitied competitors, the least amount of exertion and talent enables the 
most indolent schoolmasters to present average claims on public confidence and 
support. Rare indeed are the examples in whicli skill and principle are com- 
bined in the agents emphjyed in this most important sphere of national self- 
government. Other men will not enable you to restore the children of vagabonds 
and criminals to society, purged of the taint of their parents' vices, and prepared 
to perform their duties as useful citizens in an humble sphere. 

The peculiarities of the character and condition of the pauper children demand 
the use of appropriate means for their improvement. The general principles on 
which the education of children of all classes should be conducted are doubtless 
fundamentally the same ; but for each class specific modifications are requisite, 
not only in the methods, but in the matter of instruction. 

The discipline, management, and methods of instruction in elementary schools 
for tlie poor, dift'er widely from those which ought to characterize schools for the 
middle or upper classes of society. The instruction of the blind, of the deaf and 
dumb, of criminals, of paupers, and of children in towns and hi rural districts, 
renders necessary the use of a variety of distinct metliods in order to attain th.e 
desired end. 

The peculiarity of the pauper child's condition is, that his parents, either from 
misfortune, or indolence, or vice, have sunk into destitution. In many instances 
children descend from generations of paupers. They have been born in the 
worst purlieus of a great city, or in the most wretched hovels on the parish 
waste. Tliey have suffered privation of every kind. Perliaps they have wan- 
dered about the country in beggary, or have been tauglit the arts of petty 
thieving in the towns. They have lived with brutal and cruel men and women, 
and have suffered from tlieir caprice and mismanagement. They have seen 
much of vice and wretchedness, and have known neither comfort, Idndness, nor 
virtue. 

If they are sent very young to tlie work-house, their entire training in religious 
knowledge, and in all the habits of life, devolves on the schoolmaster. If they 
come under his care at a later period, his task is difficult in proportion to the 
vicious propensities he has to encounter. 

The children to whose improvement Pestalozzi devoted his life were of a 
similar class, — equally ignorant, and perhaps equally demoralized, in consequence 
of the internal discords attendant on the revolutionary wars which, at the 
period when his labors commenced, had left Switzerland in ruin 

The class of children which De Fellenberg placed under the charge of Vehrli 
at Hofwyl were in like manner picked up on the roads of tlie canton — they were 
the outcasts of Berne. 

These circumstances are among the motives which led us to a careful examina- 
tion of the schools of industry and normal schools of the cantons of Switzerland. 
These schools are more or less under the influence of the lessons which Pestalozzi 
and De Fellenberg have taught that country. They differ in some important 
particulars from those v/hich exist in England, and the experience of Switzeidand 
in this peculiar department of elementary instruction appears pre-eminently 
worthy of attention. 

These orphan and normal schools of Switzerland, which have paid the deference 
due to the lessons of Pestalozzi and De Fellenberg, are remarkable for tlie gen- 
tleness and simplicity of the intercourse between the scholar and his master. 
The formation of character is always kept in mind as the great aim of education. 
The intelligence is enlightened, in order that it may inform the conscience, and 
that the conscience, looking forth through this intelligence, may behold a wider 
sphere of duty, and have at its command a greater capacity for action. The 
capacity for action is determined by the cultivation of habits appropriate to the 
duties of tlie station which the child must occupy. 

Among the laboring class, no habit is more essential to virtuous conduct than 
that of steady and persevering labor. Manual skill connects the intelligence 



3(56 BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOTi. 

with the brute force with which we are endued. The instruction in elementary 
Bchools sliould be so conducted as not only to assist the laborer in acquiring 
mechanical dexterity, but in bringinj^ his intelligence to aid the labors of his 
hands, whether b}' a knowledge of the principles of form or numbers, or of the 

{n'operties of natural objects, and the nature of the phenomena by Avhich his 
abors are likely to be affected. In a commercial country, it is pre-eminently 
important to give him such an acquaintance with geography as may stimulate 
entei-priso at home, or may tend to swe-l tlie stream of colonization which is 
daily extending the dominion of British commerce and civilization. Labor which 
brings the sweat upon the brows requires relaxation, and the child should there- 
fore learn to repose fr(im toil among innocent enjoyments, and to avoid those 
vicious indulgences which waste the laborer's strength, rob his house of C(mifort, 
and m.ust sooner or later be the source of sorrow. There is a dignity in the 
lot of man in every sphere, if it be not cast away. The honor and the joy of 
successful toil should till the laborer's ? ongs in his hour of repose. From religion 
man learns that all the artificial distinctions of society are as nothing before that 
God who searcheth the heart. Religion, therefore, raises the laborer to the 
highest dignity of human existence, the knowledge of the will and the enjoyment 
of tlie favor of God. Instructed by religi(;n, the laborer knows how in daily toil 
he fidfills the duties and satisfies the moral and natural necessities of liis existence, 
while the outward garb of mortality is gradually wearing off, and the spirit pre- 
paring for emancipation. 

An education guided by the principles described in this brief sketch, appears 
to us appropriate to the preparation of the outcast and orphan children for the 
great work of a Christian's life. * * - 

That which seemed most important was the preparation of a class of teachers, 
who would cheerfully devote themselves, and, witii anxious and tender solicitude, 
to rear these children, abandoned by all natural sympathies, as a wise and 
affectionate parent Avould prepare them for the duties of life. 

To so grave a task as an attemjit to devise the means of training these teach- 
ers, it was necessary to bring a jiatient and humble spirit, in order that the 
results of experience hi this department might be examined, and that none that 
were useful might be hastily thrown Hside. Our examination of the Continental 
schools was undertaken with this view. A visit was made to Holland at two 
successive periods, on the last of which we took one of Dr. Kay's most experienced 
schoolmasters with us, in order that he might improve himself by an examination 
of the methods of instruction in the Dutch schools, all the most remarkable of 
which were minutely inspected. A visit has been paid to Prussia and Saxony, 
in wliich several of the chief schools have been cxtimined with a similar design. 
Two visits were paid to Paris, in which the normal school at Versailles, the 
Maison Merc, and Novitiate of the Brothers of the Order of the Christian Doc- 
trine, and a great number of the elementary schools of Paris and the vicinity, 
were examined. The normal school at Dijon Avas especially recommended to 
our attention by M. Cousin and M. Villemain, and we spent a day in that school. 
Our attention was directed with peculiar interest to tlie schools oi Switzerland, 
in the examination of which we sjjent several weeks uninterruptedly. During 
this period we daily inspected one or more schools, and conversed with the 
authorities of the several cantons, with the directors of the normal schools, and 
with individuals distinguished by their knowledge of the science of elementary 
instruction. The occasional leave of absence from our home duties which you 
have kindly granted us in the last three years respectively, was mainly solicited 
with the view, and devoted to the purpose, of examining the method of instruc- 
tion adopted in the schools for the poorer classes on the Continent. 

This report is not intended to convey to you the results of our inquiries. It 
may suffice to describe the chief places visited, and the objects to which our at- 
tention was directed, in order that you may know the sources whence we have 
derived the information by wiiich our subsequent labors have been guided. Wc 
entered Switzerland by the Jura, descending at Geneva, and, having obtained 
the sanction of the authorities, were accompanied by some members of the 
conncil in our visit to the schools of the town and neighborhood. Thence wo 
proceeded to the Canton de Vaud, inspecting certain rural schools, and the 
schools of the towns on the borders of the lake, ou our way to Lausanne. Hero 



BATT2RSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. ^Q>j 

■we spent two days, in company with M. Gauthey, the director of the normal 
scliool of the canton, whose valuable report has been transhiteJ by Sir John 
Boileau, our foUow-traveler in this part of our journey. 

At Lausanne we attjnde-1 the lectures, and examined the classes in the normal 
school an.l the town schools, ani enjoyed much useful and instructive conversa- 
tion with M. Gauthey, who appeared eminently well qualified for his important 
labors. 

At Fribourg we spent some time in the convent of the Capuchin friars, where 
we found the venerable Pare Girard officiating; at a religious festival, but he 
belongs to the Dominican order. Tlie Pere Girard has a European reputation 
among those who have labored to raise the elementary instruction of the poorer 
classes, consequent on his pious labors among the poor of Fribourg; and the 
success of his schools appeared to us chiefly attributable, — first, to the skill and 
assiduity with which the monitors had been instructed in the evening by the 
father and his assistants, by which they had been raised to the level of the pupil 
teachers of Holland; and secondly, to the skillful manner in which Pere Girard 
and his assistants had infused a moral lesson into every incident of the instruction, 
and had bent the whole force of their minds to the formation of the characters 
of the children. It was, at the period of our visit, the intention of Pere Girard 
to publish a scries of works of elementary instruction at Paris, for which we have 
since waited in vain. 

At Berne, we spent much time in conversation with M. De Fellenberg, at 
Ilofwyl. We visited his great establi.shment for education there, as well as the 
normal school at Muncheu Buchsee, in Avhich visit we were accompanied by M. 
De Fellenberg. What we learned from the conversation of this patriotic and 
high-minded man we cannot find space here to .say. His words are better read 
in the establishments which he has founded, and which he superintends, and in 
the inHuence which his example and his precepts have had on the rest of Switzer- 
lanl, ani on other parts of Europe. The town schools of Berne and other j^arts 
of the canton merited, and received our attention. 

At Lucerne we c.n-efully examined the normal and orphan schools. Thence 
we proceeded through Schweitz, with the intention of visiting the colony of the 
Linth, in Glarus, but failed, from the state of the mountain roads. Grossing the 
Lake of Zurich at Rapperschwyl, we successively visited St. Gall and Appenzell, 
examining some of the most interesting orphan schools in the mountains, par- 
ticularly one kept by a pupil of De Fellenberg at Teulfen, the normal school at 
Gais (Kruisi. the director of which is a pupil of Pestalozzi), and the orphan 
school of M. Zeltvegar at Appenzell. 

Descending from the mountains, we crossed the lake to Constance, where we 
found Vehrli, wlio had many years conducted the poor-school of De Fellenberg 
at Hofwyl, now in charge of the normal school of the canton of Thurgovia, in a 
large mansion once connected with the convent of Kruitzlingcn. Here we spent 
two days in constant communication with Vehrli and his pupils, in the examina- 
tion of his classes, and deriving from him much information respecting his 
labors. From Constance we traveled to Zurich, where we carefully examined 
the normal and model schools, both at that time considerably shaken by the 
recent revolution. 

At Lenzberg we had much useful conversation with the director of the normal 
school of tlie canton of Aargovia; thence we traveled to Basle, where we visited 
the orphan house of the town, and also that at Beuggen, as well as other schools 
of repute. 

We have ventured to give this sketch of our journey in Switzerland, as some 
apology for the strength of the opinion we have formed on the necessity which 
exists for the establishment of a training school for the teachers of pauper 
children in this country. Our inquiries were not confined to this object ; but 
both here, at Paris, in Holland, and in Germany, we bought every book which 
we thought might be useful in our future labors ; and in every canton we were 
careful to collect all the laws relating to education, the regulations of the normal 
and elementary schools, and the by-laws by which these institutions were 
governed. 

In the orphan schools which have emanated from Pestalozzi and De Fellen- 
berg, we found the type which has assisted us in our subsequent labors. In 



368 BATTEKSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

walking Avith M. De Fellenberg through Hofwyl, we listened to the precepts 
which we think most applicable to the education of the pauper class. In the 
normal school of the canton of Thurgovia, and in the orphan schools of St. Gall 
and Appenzell, we found the development of those principles so far successful as 
to assure us of their practical utility. * * * 

We were anxious that a work of such importance should be undertaken by 
the autliorities most competent to carry it into execution successfully, and we 
painfully felt how inadequate our own resources and experience were for the 
management of such an experiment ; but after various inquiries, which were at- 
tended with few encouraging results, we thought that as a last resort we should 
not incur the charge of presumption, if, in private and unaided, we endeavored 
to work out the first steps of the jjstablishment of an institution for the training 
of teachers, which we hoped might afterward be intrusted to abler hands. We 
determined, therefore, to devote a certain portion of our own means to this 
object, believing that when the scheme of the institution was sufficiently mature 
to enable us to speak of results rather than of anticipations, the Avell-being of 
50,000 pauper children would plead its own cause with the government and the 
public, so as to secure the future prosperity of the establishment. 

The task proposed was, to reconcile a simplicity of life not remote from the 
habits of the humbler classes, with such proficiency in intellectual attainments, 
such a knowledge of method, and such sidll in the art of teaching, as would 
enable the pupils selected to become efficient masters of elementary schools. 
We hoped to inspire them with a large sympathy for their own class ; to implant 
in their minds the thought that their chief honor would be to aid in rescuing 
that class from the misery of ignorance and its attendant vices; to wean them 
from the influence of that personal competition in a commercial society which 
leads to sordid aims ; to place before them the unsatisfied want of the uneasy 
and distressed multitude ; and to breathe into them the charity which seeks to 
heal its mental and moral diseases. 

We were led to select premises at Battersea, chiefly on account of the very 
frank anil cordial welcome with which the suggestion of our plans was received 
by the Hon. and Rev. Robert Eden, the vicar of Battersea. Mr. Eden ofi'ered 
the use of his village schools in aid of tlie training school, as the sphere in which 
the pupils might obtain a practical acquaintance with the art of instruction. 
He also undertook to superintend the training school in all that related to 
religion. 

Wo therefore chose a spacious manor-house close to the Thames, surrounded 
by a ;, rden of five acres. This house was altered and divided so as to aimrd a 
good . jparate residence to Dr. Kay,* who undertook to superintend the progress 
of the establishment for a limited period, within which it was hoped that the 
principles on which the training school was to be conducted would be so far 
developed as to be in course of prosperous execution, and not likely to perish by 
being confided to other hands. 

In the month of January, 1840, the class-rooms were fitted up with desks on 
the plan described on the minutes of the Committee of Council, and we furnished 
the scliool-house. About the beginning of February some boys were removed 
from the School of Industry at Norwood, whose conduct had given us confidence 
in their characters, and who had made a certain proficiency in the elementary 
instruction of that school. 

These boys were chiefly orphans, of little more than thirteen years of age, in- 
tended to form a class of apprentices. These apprentices would be bound from 
the age of fourteen to that of twenty-one, to pursue, under the guidance and 
direction of the Poor-Law Commission, the vocation of assistant teachers in 
elementary schools. For this purpose they were to receive instruction at least 
three years in the training school, and to be employed as pupil teachers for two 
years at least in the Battersea village school during three hours of every day. 

At the termination of this probationary period (if they were able satisfactorily 
to pass a certain examination) they were to receive a certificate, and to be em- 
ployed as assistant teachers, under the guidance of experienced and well-conducted 
masters, in some of the schools of industry for pauper children. Tliey were at 

• For which he paid half the rent and taxes, in addition to hia share of the expenses of the 
ichool. 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 3g9 

this period to be rewarded with a certain remuneration, increasing from y»ar to 
year, and secured to them by the form of the indenture. 

If tliey were unable to satisfy the examiners of their proficiency in every 
department of elementary instruction, and thus failed in obtaining their cer- 
tificate, they would continue to receive instruction at Battorsea until they had 
acquired the requisite accomplishments. 

The number of pnpil ter«chers of this class has been gradually increased, 
during the period wliich has since elapsed, to twenty-four. But it seemed 
essential to the success of the school that the numbers should increase slowly. 
Its existence was disclosed only to the immediate circles of our acquaintance, by 
whom some boys were sent to the school, besides those whom we supported at 
our own expense. For the clothing, board and lodging, and education of each of 
these, boys, who were confided to our care by certain of our friends, we consented 
to receive £20 per annum toward the general expenses of the schools. 

Besides the class of pupil teachers, we consented to receive young men, to 
remain at least one year in the estabhshment, either recommended by our per- 
sonal friends, or to be trained for the schools of gentlemen with whom we were 
acquainted. These young men have generally been from twenty to thirty years 
of age. 

The course of instruction, and the nature of the discipline adopted for the 
training of these young men, will be described in detail. This class now amounts 
to nine, a number accumulated only by very_ gradual accessions, as we were by 
no means desirous to attract many students until our plans were more mature, 
and the instruments of our labor were tried and approved. 

The domestic arrangements were conducted witli great simplicity, because it 
was desirable that the pupils should be prepared for a life of self-denial. A 
sphere of great usefulness might require the labors of a man ready to live among 
the peasantry on their own level, — to mingle with them in their habitations, — to 
partake their frugal or even coarse meals, — and to seem their equal only, though 
their instructor and guide. It was desirable, therefore, that the diet should be 
as frugal as was consistent with constant activity of mind, and some hours of 
steady and vigorous labor, and that it should not pamper the appetite by its 
quality or its variety. 

The whole household-work was committed to the charge of the boys and young 
men; and for this purpose the duties of each were appointed every fortnight, in 
order that tliey might be equally shared by all. The young men above twenty 
years of age did not aid in the scouring of the floors and stairs, nor clean the 
shoes, grates, and yards, nor assist in the serving and waiting at meals, the prep- 
aration of vegetables and other garden-stuff f jr the cook. But the making of 
beds and all other domestic duty was a common lot ; ixnd the young men acted 
as superintendents of the other work. 

This was performed with cheerfulness, though it was some time before the 
requisite skill was attained ; and perfect order and cleanliness have been found 
among the habits most difficult to secure. The pupils and students were care- 
fully informed, that these arrangements were intended to prepare them for the 
discliarge of serious duties in an humble sphere, and to nerve their minds for the 
trials and vicissitudes of life. 

• The masters partook the same diet as the pupils, sitting in the center of the 
room, and assisting in the carving. They encouraged familiar conversation 
(avoiding the extremes of levity or seriousness) at the meals, but on equal 
terms with their scholars, with the exception only of the respect involuntarily 
paid them. 

After a short time a cow was bought, and committed to the charge of one of 
the elder boys. Three pigs were afterward added to the stock, then three 
goats, and subsequently poultry and a second cow. These animals were all fed 
and tended, and the cows were daily milked, by the pupil teachers. It seemed 
important that they should learn to tend animals with care and gentleness ; 
that they should understand the habits and the mode of managing these par- 
ticular animals, because the schoolmaster in a rural parish often has a common 
or forest-right of pasture for his cow, and a forest-run for his pig or goat, and 
might thus, with a httle skill, be provided with the means of healthful occupation 
ID his hours of leisure, and oi providing for the comfort of his family. 



370 BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOT.. 

Moreover, such employments were deemed important, as giving the pupils, hj 
actual experience, some knowledge of a peasant's life, and, therefore, ti'uer and 
closer sympathy with liis lot. They would be able to render their teaching 
instructive, by adapting it to the actual condition and associations of those to 
whom it would be addressed. They would be in less danger of despising the 
laborer's daily toil in comparison witli intellectual pursuits, and of being led by 
their own attainments to form a false estimate of tlieir poi-iion in relation to the 
class to which they belonged, and whicli they were destined to instruct. The 
teacher of the peasant's child occupies, as it were, the father's place, in tiie per- 
formance of duties from wliich tlie father is separated by his daily toil, and 
unhappily, at present, by his want of knowledge and skill. But the sclioohnaster 
ought to be prepared in thought and feeling to do the peasant-father's dutv, 
by having sentiments in common with him, and among the-e an honest pride in 
the labor of his hands, in his strength, his manual skill, his robust health, and the 
manly vigor of his body and mind. 

At first, four hours were devoted every day to labor in tlie garden. The 
whole school rose at half past five. Tlie household-work occupied the pupil 
teachers altogether, and the students partially, till a quarter to seven oclock. 
At a quarter to seven they marched hito the garden, and worked till a quarter 
to eiglit, when they were summoned to prayers. They then marched to the 
tool-house, deposited their implements, washed, and assembled at prayers at 
eight o'clock. At half past eight they breakfasted. From nine to twelve they 
were in school. Tliey worked at the garden from twelve to one, when they 
dined. They resumed their labor in the garden at two, and returned to their 
classes at three, where they were engaged till five, when they worked another 
hour in the garden. At six they supped, and spent from seven to nine in their 
classes. At nine, evening prayers were read, and immediately afterward they 
retired to rest. * * * 

In these labors the pupils and students rapidly gained strength. Tliey almost 
all soon wore the luie of health. Their food was frugal, and tliey returned to it 
with appetites which v/ere not easily satisfied. The most delicate soon lost all 
their ailments. -' * "••' 

The gymnastic frame and the horizontal and parallel bars were not erected 
until the constitutional and muscular powers of the pupils and students hatl bec^n 
invigorated by labor.. After a few months' daily work in the garden, tlie drill 
was substituted for garden-work during one hour daily. The marching exercise 
and extension movements were practiced for several weeks; then the gynniastic 
apparatus was erected, and the drill and gymnastic exercise s-ucceecled each 
other on alternate evenings. The knowledge of tlie marclung exercise is very 
useful in enabling a teacher to secure precision and order in the moveuKuits of 
the classes, or of his entire school, and to pay a due regard to the carriage of 
each child. A slouching gait is at least a sign of vulgarity, if it be not a proof 
of careless habits — of an inattention to the decencies and proprieties of life, 
which in other matters occasion discomfort in the laborer's household. Habits of 
cleanliness, punctuality, and promptitude are not very compatible with indolence, 
nor with that careless lounging which frequently squanders not only tlie laborcr'3 
time, but his means, and leads his awkward steps to the village tavern. In 
giving tlie child an erect and manly gait, a firm and regular step, precision and 
rapidity in his movements, promptitude in obedience to commands, and particu- 
larly neatness in his apparel and person, we are insensibly laying tlie foundation 
of moral habits, most intimately connected with the personal comfort and the 
happiness of the future laborer's family. We are giving a practical moral lesson, 
perhaps more powerful than the precepts which are inculcated by words. Those 
who are accustomed to the management of lai'ge scliools know of how much im- 
portance such lessons are to the establishment of that order and quiet which is 
the characteristic of the Dutch schools, and which is essential to great success in 
large schools. 

The gymnastic exercises were intended, in like manner, to prepare the teachers 
to superintend the exercises and amusiiments of the school play-ground ; to 
instruct the children systematically in those graduated trials of .-trength, activity, 
and adroitness, by wliich the muscles are develojaed and the frame is prepared 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. ^Il 

for sustaining prolonged or suiJen efforts. The play -ground of the school is so 
important a means of separating the children from the vicious companions and 
evil example of the street or lane, and of prolonging the moral influence of the 
master over tlie habits and tlioughts of his scholars, that expedients which in- 
crease its attractions are important, and especially those which enable the master 
to mingle with his scholars usefully and cheerfully. The schools of the Canton 
de Vaud are generally furnished with the proper apparatus for this purpose, 
anJ we frequently observed it in France and Germany. 

The physical training of our charge was not confined to these labors and 
exercises. Occasionally Dr. Kay accompanied them in long walking excursions 
into the country, in which they spent the whole day in visiting some distant 
school, or remarkable building connected with historical associations, or some 
scene replete with other forms of instruction. In those excursions their habits 
of observation were cultivated, their attention was du'ected to what was most 
remarkable, and to such facts and objects as might have escaped observation 
from their comparative obscurity. Their strength was taxed by the length of 
the excursion, as far as was deemed prudent ; and after their return home they 
were requested to write an account of what thej' had seen, in order to afford 
evidence of the nature of the impressions which the excursion had produced. 

Sucii excursions usefully interrupted the ordinary routine of the school, and 
afforded a pleading variety in the intercourse between ourselves and the teachers 
and pupils. They spurred the physical activity of the students, and taught 
them habits of endurance, as they seldom returned without being considerably 
fatigued. 

Such excursions are common to the best normal schools of Switzerland. It is 
very evident to the educators of Switzerland that to neglect to take their pupils 
forth to read the great truths left on record on every side of them in the extra- 
ordinary features of that country, would betray an inditference to nature, and to 
its influence on the development of the human intelligence, proving that the 
educator had most hmited views of his mission, and of the means by which its 
high purposes were to be accomplished. 

The great natural records of Switzerland, and its liistorical recollections, abound 
with subjects for instructive commentary, of which the professors of the normal 
schools avail themselves in their autumnal excursions with their pupils. The 
natural features of the country ; its drainage, soils, agriculture ; the causes which 
have affected the settlement of its inhabitants and its institutions; the circum- 
stances which have assisted in the formation of the national character, and have 
thus made the history of their country, are more clearly apprehended by lessons 
gathered in the presence of facts typical of other ikcts scattered over hill and 
valley. England is so rich in historical recollections, and in the monuments by 
which the former periods of her history are linked with the present time, that it 
would seem to be a not unimportant duty of the educator to avail himself of 
such facts as lie within the range of his observation, in order that the historical 
knowledge of his scholar may be associated with these records, marking the 
progress of civilization in his native country. Few schools are placed beyond 
the reach of such means of instruction. Where they do not exist, the country 
must present some natural features worthy of being perused. These should not 
be neglected. In book-learning there is always a danger that the thing signified 
may not be discerned through the sign. The child may acquire words instead 
of thoughts. To have a clear and earnest conviction of the reality of the things 
signified, the object of the child's instruction should as frequently as possible be 
brought under its eye. Thus, Pestalozzi was careful to devise lessons on objects 
in which, by actual contact with the sense, the children were led to discern qual- 
ities which they afterward described in words. Such lessons have no meaning 
to persons who are satisfied with instruction by rote. 

The excursions of the directors of the Swiss normal schools also serve the 
purpose of breaking for a time an almost conventual seclusion, which forms a 
characteristic of establishments in which the education of the habits, as well as 
the instruction of the intelligence, is kept in view. These excursions in Swit- 
zerland extend to several days, and even longer, in schools of the more wealthy 
classes. The pupils are thus thrown in contact with actual society; their re- 
sources are taxed by the incidents of each day ; then- moral qualities are Some- 



372 BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

times tried, and they obtain a glimpse of tlie perspective of their future life. It 
is not only important in this way to know what the condition of society is before 
the pupil is required to enter it, but it is also necessary to keep constantly be- 
fore his eye the end and aim of education — that it is a preparation for the duties 
of his future life, and to understand in Avhat respect each department of his 
studies is adapted to prepare him for the actual performance of those duties. 
For each chiss of society there is an appropriate education. The normal schools 
of Switzerland are founded on this principle. None are admitted who are not 
devoted to the vocation of masters of (dementary schools. The three or four 
years of their residence in the school are considered all too short for a complete 
jjreparation for these functions. The time, therefore, is consumed iu appropriate 
studies, care being taken that these studies are so conducted as to discipline and 
develop the intelligence ; to form habits of thought and action ; and to inspire 
the pa})il with principles on which he may repose in tlie discliarge of his duties. 

Among these studies and objects, the actual condition of the laboring class, 
its necessities, resources, and intelligence, form a most important element. The 
teachers go forth to observe for themselves ; they come back to receive further 
instruction from their master. They are led to anticipate their own relations to 
the commune or parish in which their future school will be placed. They are 
prepared by instruction to fultill certain of the communal duties which may use- 
fully devolve upon them : such as registrar, precentor, or leader of the church 
choir, and clerk to the associations of the village. They receive familiar exposi- 
tions of the law affecting the fulfillment of these duties. 

The benefits derived from these arrangements are great: not only in furnish- 
ing these rural communes with men competent to the discharge of their duties, 
but the anticipations of future utility, and the conviction that their present 
studies infold the germ of their future life, give an interest to their pursuits, 
which it would be difficult to communicate, if the sense of their importance were 
more vague and indistinct. 

To this end, in the excursions from Battersea we have been careful to enter 
the schools on our route, and lessons have been given on the duties attaching to 
the offices which may be properly discharged by a village schoolmaster, in con- 
nection with his duty of instructing the young. 

This general sketch may suffice to give an idea of the external relations of 
the life of a student in the training school, with the important exception of that 
portion of his time devoted to the acquirement of a practical knowledge of the 
duties of a schoolmaster in the village school. This may be more conveniently 
considered in connection with the intellectual pursuits of the school. We now 
proceed to regard the school as a household, and to give a brief sketch of its fa- 
miliar relations. 

The most obvious truth lay at the threshold — a family can only subsist hai-mo- 
niously by mutual love confidence, and respect. We did not seek to put the 
tutors into situations of inaccessible authority, but to place them in the parental 
seat, to receive the willing respect and obedience of their pupils, and to act as 
the elder brothers of the young men. The residence of one of us for a certain 
period, in near connection with them, appeared necessary to give that tone to 
the fannliar intercourse which would enable the tutors to conduct the instruction, 
and to maintain the discipline, so as to be at once the friends and guides of their 
charge. 

It was desirable that the tutors should reside in the house. They rose at the 
same hours with the scholars (except when prevented by sickness), and superin- 
tended more or less the general routine. Since the numbers have become great- 
er, and the duties more laborious, it has been found necessary that the superin- 
tendence of the periods of labor should be committed to each tutor alternately. 
They have set the example in working, frequently giving assistance in the sever- 
est labor, or that which was least attractive. 

In the autumn, some extensive alterations of the premises were to a large 
extent effected by the assistance of the entire school. The tutors not only su- 
perintended, but assisted in the work. Mr. Tate contributed his mechanical 
knowledge, and Mr. Home assisted in the execution of the details. In the clieer- 
ful industry displayed on this and on other similar occasions, we have witnessed 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 3*^3 

witii satisfaction one of the best fruits of tlie discipline of the school. The con- 
ceit of the pedagogue is not likely to arise among either students or masters 
who cheerfully handle the trowel, the saw, or carry mortar in a hod to the top 
of the building ; such simplicity of life is not very consistent with that vanity 
which occasions insincerity. But freedom from this vice is essential to that har- 
monious interchange of kind offices and mutual respect which we were anxious 
to preserve. 

The diet of the household is simple. The fruits and vegetables of the garden 
afford the chief variety, without luxury. The teachers sit in the midst of their 
scholars. The familiar intercourse of the meals is intended to be a means of 
cultivating kindly affections, and of insuring that the example of the master shall 
insensibly form the habits of the scholar. Every day confirms the growing im- 
portance of these arrangements. 

It lias been an object of especial care that the morning and evening prayers 
should be conducted with solemnity. A hall has been prepared for this service, 
which is conducted at seven o'clock every morning in that place. A passage of 
Scripture having been read, a portion of a psalm is chanted, or they sing a hymn ; 
and prayers follow, generally from the family selection prepared by the Bishop 
of London. The evening service is conducted in a shnilar manner. The solem- 
nity of the music, which is performed in four parts, is an important means of 
rendering the family devotion impressive. We trust that the benefits derived 
from these services may not be transient, but that the masters reared in this 
school will remember the household devotions, and will maintain in their own 
dwellings and schools the family rite with equal care. 

Quiet has been enjoined on the pupils in retiring to rest. 

The Sunday has been partially occupied by its appropriate studies. The ser- 
vices of the church have been attended morning and evening ; and, besides a 
certain period devoted to the study of the formularies, the evening has been 
spent in writing out from memory a copious abstract of one of the sermons. At 
eight o'clock these compositions have been read and commented upon in the 
presence of the whole school ; and a most useful opportunity has been afforded 
for religious instruction, besides the daily instruction in the Bible. Mr. Eden has 
likewise attended the school on Friday, and examined the classes in their ac- 
quaintance with the Holy Scriptures and formulai-ies of the church. The rehgious 
department, generally, is under his superintendence. 

The household and external life of the school are so interwoven with the les- 
sons, that it becomes necessary to consider some of their details together, before 
the intellectual instruction is separately treatel. 

With pupils and students alike, it was found necessary to commence at an 
early stage of instruction, and to furnish them with the humblest elements of 
knowledge. The time which has elapsed since the school has opened ought, 
therefore, to be regarded as a preparatory period, similar to that which, in Ger- 
many, is spent from the time of leaving the primary school to sixteen, the 
period of entering the normal school, in what is called a preparatory training 
school. 

As such preparatory schools do not exist in this country, we had no alternative. 
We selected the boys of the most promising character, and determined to wade 
through the period of preparation, and ultimately to create a preparatory class 
in the school itself. Our design was to examine the pupils of this class at the 
end of the first year, and to grimt to such of them as gave proof of a certain 
degree of proficiency a certificate as Candidates of the training school. At the 
end of the second year's course of instruction, it is intended that a second exam- 
ination shall occur, in which proficients may obtain the certificate of Scholar ; and 
at the close of the ordinary course, m the thinl year, another examination is to 
be held, in which the certificate of Master will be conferred on those who have 
attained a certain rank intellectually, and who support their claims by a correct 
moral deportment. 

Training schools, developed on this design, would therefore consist of — 

1. Preparatory classes of students and pupils. 2. A class of Candidates. 
3. A class of Scholars. And some students, who had obtained the certificate of 
Master, might remain in the school in preparation for special duties as the Mas- 



374 BATTKllSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

ters of important district schoola, or as Tutors in other training schools. These 
students would constitute — 4. A cltiss of Masters. 

As soon as the attainments of the students and pupils appeared to warrant 
the experiment, an hour was daily appropriated to examination by means of 
questions written on tlie board before the class, the replies to wliich were worked 
on paper, in silence, in the presence of one of the tutors. This hour is, on suc- 
cessive days of the week, appropriated to different subjects, viz. : grammar, ety- 
mology, arithmetic, mensuration, algebra, mechanics, geography, and biblical 
knowledge. Tlie examination papers are then carefully examined by the tutor 
to wliose department they belong, in order that tJie value of the reply to each 
question may bo determined in reference to mean numbers, 8, 4, 5, and 6. These 
mean numbers are used to express the comparative difficulty of every question, 
and the greatest merit of each reply is expressed by the numbers 6, 8, and 10 
and 12 respectively, the lowest degree of merit being indicated by 1. 

The sum of the numbers thus attached to each answer is entered in the ex- 
amination-book, opposite to the name of each pupil. These numbers are added 
up at the end of the week, and reduced to an average by dividing them by the 
number of days of examination which have occurred in the week. In a similar 
manner, at the end of the month, the sum of the weekly averages is, for the 
sake of convenience, reduced by dividing them by four ; and a convenient num- 
ber is thus obtained, expressing the intellectual progress of each boy. These 
numbers are not published in the school, but are reserved as an element by 
which we may be enabled to award the certificates of Candidate, Scholar, and 
Master. 

The examination for the quarterly certificates will necessarily also include the 
inspection of the writing, drawings, abstracts, and compositions. Oral examina- 
tion will be required to ascertain the degree of promptitude and ease in expres- 
sion of each pupil. They will likewise be required to give demonstrations of 
problems in arithmetic, algebra, and mechanics, on the blackboard ; to describe 
the geography of a district in the form of a lecture, and to conduct a class be- 
fore us, ere we award the certificates. 

The examination of the pupils will gradually rise in importance, and the quar- 
terly examinations will bo marked by a progressive character, leading to the 
three chief examinations for tlie certificates of Candidate, Scholar, and Master, 
which will be distinguished from each other, both as respects the nature and 
number of the acquirements, and by the degree of proficiency required in some 
branches which will be common to the three periods of study. 

In another department of registration we have thought it important to avoid 
certain errors of principle to which such registers appear to be liable. We liave 
been anxious to have a record of some parts of moral conduct connected with 
habits formed in the school, but we have not attempted to register moral tnerit. 
Such registers are at best very difllcult to keep. They occasion rivalry, and often 
hypocrisy. On tliis account we did not deem it advisable to require that they 
should be kept ; but it was important that we should be informed of certain 
errors interfering with the formation of habits of' punctuality, industry, cleanli- 
ness, order, and subordination ; and registers were devised for noting deviations 
from propriety in these respects. First, a time-book is directed to be kept, in 
which the observance of the hour of rising, and of the successive periods marked 
in the routine of the school is noted, in order that any general cause of aberra- 
tion may meet the eye at once. Secondly, one book is kept by the superintend- 
ents appointed from among the students to inspect the household work above 
stairs, another in relation to the household ivork below stairs, and a third by tlie 
tutor having charge of out-door labor. In these books the duties assigned to 
each pupil are entered opposite to his name. The superintendent, at the expi- 
ration of the period allotted to the work, marks in columns under each of the 
following heads, — Subordination, Industry, Cleanliness, Order, — the extent of de- 
viation from propriety of conduct by numbers varying from 1 to 4. 

The register of punctuality in classes is kept by writing opposite to each pu- 
pil's name the number of minutes which elapse after the proper period before he 
enters the class. The sura of the numbers recorded in these books denotes the 
extent of errors in habits and manners into which any of the pupils fall, and di- 
rects our attention to the fact. Such records would, in connection with the re- 



BATTERSEA TRAFNING SCHOOL. 



375 



suits of the examinations, enable us to determine whether, in reference to each 
period, a certificate of Candidate, Scholar, or Maater, oi the first, second, or third 
degree, should be granted. 

The reports of the superintendents are presented to Dr. Kay immodiatelj 
ftfter morning prayers. The record is read in the presence of the sclun)!, and 
any appeal against the entry heard. At this period the relation wliicli the 
entire discipline holds to tlie future pursuits of the pupils is from time to time 
made familiar to them by simple expositions of the principles bv which it is reg- 
ulated. * * ■"• 

This is the household life of the school. Brief liints only of the principles which 
have deterniinad and regulated the preparatory course can find a place in the 
remarks we have to offer on the preparatory course. 

The students have been stimulated in their application by a constant sense of 
the practical utility of tlieir intellectual labors. After morning prayers, they are 
from day to day reminded of the connection between their present and future 
pursuits, aud informed how every part of the discipline and study has a direct 
relation to the duties of a schoolmaster. The conviction thus created becomes a 
powerful incentive to exertion, which might be wanting if those studies were se- 
lected only because they were important as a discipline of the mind. 

The sense of practical utility seems as important to the earnestness of the stu- 
dent as tiio lively conviction attending object teaching in the early and simplest 
form of elementary instruction. In the earliest steps an acquaintance v/ith the 
real is necessary to lively conceptions of truth, and at a later period a sense of 
the value of kaov.fledge resulting from experience inspires the strongest convic- 
tion of the dignity and importance of all truth, where its immediate practical 
utility is not obvious. 

Far, tlierefore, from fearing that the sense of the practical utility of these 
studies will loa.d tlie students to measure the value of all truth by a low stand- 
ard, their pursuits have been regulated by the conviction, that the most certain 
method of attaining a strong sense of the value of trutlis, not readily applicable 
to immediate use, is to ascertain by experience the importance of those which 
can be readily measured by the standard of practical utility. Thus we approach 
the conception of the momentum of a planet moving in its orbit, from asccrtaia- 
ing the momentum of bodies whoaa weight and velocity we can measure by the 
simplest ob.iurvations. From the level of the experience of the practical utility 
of certain coinmnn truths, the mind gradually ascends to the more abstract, 
whose iiuportanse lience becomes more easily apparent, though their prcoeut ap- 
piication is not obvious, and in this way the thoughts most safely approach tlie 
most diilicult abstractions. 

la the iinmble pursuits of the preparatory course, a lively sense of the utility 
of their stu lies has likewise been maintained by the method of instruction adopt- 
ed. Nothing has baen taught dogniaticaUy, bat every tiling by the combitiation 
of the siaiplest elements, i. e. the course which a discoverer must have trod ha.s 
been follo-.vc 1, ;ui 1 the way in which truths liave been ascertained ptiinted out 
by. a synthetical demonstration of each successive step. The labor of the pre- 
vious analysis of the subject is the duty of the teacher, and is thus removed from 
the child. 

Having ascertained what the pupil knows, the teaclier endeavors to lead him 
by gentle and easy steps from the known to tlie unknown. The instracrion, in 
the whole preparatory course, is chiefly oral, and is illustrated, as much as possi- 
ble, by appe:ds to nature, and by demonstrations. Books are not resorted to 
until the teacher is convinced that the mind of his pupil is in a state of healthful 
activity; that there has been awakened in him a lively interest in truth, and 
that he has become acquainted practically with the inductive method of acquir- 
ing knowledge. At this stage the rules, the principles of whicli have been oraily 
communicated, and with whose application he is familiar, are committed to meni- 
ory from books, to serve as a means of recalling more readily the knowledge and 
skill thus attained. This course is Pestalozzi.an, and, it will be perceived, is the 
reverse of the method usually followed, which consists in giving the pupil the 
rule first. Experience, however, has confirmed us in the superiority of the plan 
we have pursued. Sometimes a book, as for example a work on Physical Geog- 
raphy, is put into his hands, in order that it may be carefully read, and that the' 

24 



376 BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

Btudent may prepare himself to give before the class .1 verbal abstract of the 
chapter selected for this purpose, and to answer such questions as may be pro- 
posed to him, citlicr by the tutor or by his fellows. During the preparatory 
course exercises of this kind have not been so numerous as they will be in the 
more advanced stages of instruction. Until habits of attention and steady ap- 
plication had been formed, it seemed undesirable to allow to the pupils hours for 
self-sustained study, or voluntary occupation. Constant superintendence is ne- 
cessary to the formation of correct liabits, in these and in all otlier respects, in 
the preparatory course. The entire day is, therefore, occupied with a succession 
of engagements in household work and out-door labor, devotional exercises, meals, 
and instruction. Recreation is sought in change of employment. These changes 
atlbrd such pleasure, and the sense of utility and duty is so constantly maintained, 
that recreation in the ordinary sense is not needed. Leisure from such occupa- 
tions is never sought excepting to write a letter to a friend, or occasionally to 
visit some near relative. The pupils all present an air of cheerfulness. They 
proceed from one lesson to another, and to their several occupations, Avith an 
elasticity of mind which affords the best proof that the mental and physical ef- 
fects of the training are auspicious. 

In the early steps toward the formation of correct habits, it is necessary that 
(until the power of self-guidance is obtained) the pupil should be constantly un- 
der the eye of a master, not disposed to -exercise authority so much as to give 
assistance and advice. Before the habit of self-direction is formed, it is there- 
fore pernicious to leave much time at the disposal of the pupil. Pi'oper intel- 
lectual and moral aims must be inspired, and the pupil must attain a knowledge 
of the mode of employing his time witli skill, usefully, and under the guidance 
of light motives, ere ho can be properly left to the spontaneous suggestions of 
liis own mind. Here, therefore, the moral and the intellectual training are in 
the closest harmony. The formation of correct liabits, and the growth of right 
sentiments, ought to precede such confidence in the pupil's powers of self-direc- 
tion, as is implied in leaving liim eiflier much time unoccupied, or in which his 
labors are not under the immediate superintendence of his teacher. 

In the preparatory course, therefore, the whole time is employed under super- 
intendence, but toward the close of the course a gradual trial of the pupil's 
powers of self-guidauce is commenced; first, by intrr.sting him witli certain 
studies unassisted by the teacher. Those v/ho zealously and successfully employ 
their time Vv'ill, by degrees, be intrusted with a greater period for self-sustained 
intellectual or pliysical exertion. Further evidence of the existence of the prop- 
er qualities will lead to a more liberal confidence, until habits of application 
and the power of pursuing their studies successfully, and without assistance, are 
attained. 

The subjects of the preparatory course were strictly rudimental. It will be 
found that the knowledge obtained in the elementary scliools now in existence 
is a very meager preparation for tlie studies of a training school for teachers. 
Until the elementary schools are improved, it will be found necessary to go to 
the very roots of all knowledge, and to rearrange sucli knowledge as the pupils 
have attained, in harmony with the principles on which they nuist ultimately 
communicate it to others. Many of our pupils enter the school with the broadest 
provincial dialect, scarcely able to read with fluency and precision, much less 
with ease and expression. Some were ill furnished with the commonest rules of 
arithmetic, and wrote clumsily and slowly. 

They have been made acquainted with the jilionic method of teaching to read 
practiced in Germany. Their defects of pronunciation have been corrected to a 
large extent by the adoption of this method, and by means of deliberate and 
emphatic syllabic reading, in a well-sustained and correct tone. The principlea 
on which the laut or phonic method depends have been explained at considerable 
length as a part of tlie course of lessons on method. 

We have deemed it of paramount importance that they should acquire a 
thorough knowledge of the elements and structure of the English language. The 
lessons in reading were in the first place made the means of leading them to an 
examination of the structure of sentences, and practical oral lessons were given 
on grammar and etymology according to the method pursued by Mr. Wood in 
' the Edinburgh Sessional School. The results of these exercises were tested by 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL, g'j'j 

tlie lessons of dictation and of composition which accompanied the early stages 
of this course, and by -which a timely sense of the utility of a knowledge of 
grammatical construction and of the etymological relations of words was devel- 
oped. As soon as this feeling was created, the oral instruction in grammar 
assunjed a more positive form. The theory on which the rules were founded 
was explained, and tlie several laws, when v/ell understood, were dictated in the 
least exceptionable formulfe, and were written out and committed to memory. 
In this way they proceeded througli the Avliole of the theory and rules of gram- 
mar before they were intrusted with any book on the subject, lest tliey should 
depend for their knowledge on a mere etfort of the memory to retain a formula 
not well understood. 

At each stage of their advance, corresponding exercises were resorted to, in 
order to familiarize them with the application of the rules. 

When they had in this way passed through the ordinary course of grammati- 
cal instruction, they were intrusted witli books to enable them to give the last 
degree of precision to their conceptions. 

in etymology the lessons were in lil^e manner practical and oral. Tliey were 
first derived from the reading-lessons of the day, and applied to the exercises and 
examinations accompanying tlie course, and, after a certain progress had been 
made, their further advance was insured by systematic lessons from books. 

A course of reading in English literature, hj which the taste may be refined 
by an acquaintance with the best models of style, and with those authors whose 
works have exercised the most beneficial influence on the mind of this nation, has 
necessarily been postponed to another part of the course. It, liowever, forms 
one of tlie most important elements in the conception of the objects to be attained 
in a training school, that the teacher should be inspired with a discriminating but 
earnest admiration for those gifts of great minds to English literature whicli are 
alike the property of the peasant and the peer ; national treasures which are 
among the most legitimate sources of national feelings. 

Tho-e who have had close intercourse with the laboring classes well know 
with what difficulty they comprehend words not of a Saxon origin, and how fre- 
quently addresses to them are unintelligible from the continual use of terms of a 
Latin or Greek derivation ; yet the daily language of the middling and upper 
classes abounds with such words — many of the formularies of our church are full 
of them, and hardly a sermon is preached which does not in every page contain 
numerous examples of theu' use. Phrases of this sort are so naturalized in the 
language of the educated classes, that entirely to omit them has the appearance 
of pedantry and baldness, and even disgusts persons of taste and refinement. 
Tiierefore, in addressing a mixed congregation, it seems impossible to avoid using 
them, and the only mode of meeting the inconvenience alluded to is to instruct 
the luimbler classes in their meaning. The metliod we have adopted for this 
purpose has been copied from that first introduced in the Edinburgh Sessional 
Schools; every compound word is analyzed, and the separate meaning of each 
member pointed out, so that, at present, there are few words in the Engli.sh 
language wliich our pupils cannot thoroughly comprehend, and from their 
acquaintance with the common roots and principles of etymology, the new com- 
pound terms, which the demands of civilization are daily introducing, are almost 
immediately understood by tliem. We believe that there are few acquu-ements 
more conducive to clearness of thought, or that can be more usefully introduced 
into common schools, than a thorough knowledge of the English language, and 
that the absence of it gives power to the illiterate teacher and demagogue, and 
deprives the lettered man of his just influence. 

Similar remarks might be extended to style. It is equally obvious that the 
educated use sentences of a construction presenting diflaculties to the vulgar 
which are frequently almost hisurmountable. It is, therefore, not only necessary 
that the meaning of words should be taught on a logical system m our element- 
ary schools, but that tlie children should be made familiar witli extracts from 
our best authors on subjects suited to their capacity. It cannot be permitted to 
remain the opprobrium of this country that its greatest minds have bequeathed 
their thoughts to the nation in a style at once pure and simple, but still inacces- 
sible to the intelligence of the great body of the people. 



878 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 



In writing, they were trained, as soon as the various books could be prepared, 
according to the metliod* of Mulhauser, wliich was translated and placed in the 
hands of the teachers for that purpose. 

In like manner, in arithmetic, it has been deemed desirable to put them in 
possession of the prcj-eminently vsynthetical method of Pestalozzi. As soon as the 
requisite tables and series of lessons, analyzed to the simplest elements, could 
be procured, the principles on which complex numerical combinations rest were 
rendered familiar to them, by leading the pupils through the earlier course of 
Pestalozzi's lessons on numbers, from simple imity to compound fractional quan- 
tities ; connecting with them the series of exercises in mental arithmetic which 
they are so well calculated to introduce and to illustrate. The use of such a 
method dispels the gloom which might attend the most expert use of the com- 
mon rules of arithmetic, and which commonly afford the pupil little light to guide 
his steps off the beaten path illuminated by the rule. 

While these lessons have been in progress, the common rules of aiithmetic 
have been examined by the light of this method. Their theory has been ex- 
plained, and by constant practice the pupils have been led to acquire expcrtness 
in them, as well as to pursue the common principles on which they rest, and to 
ascertain the practical range within which each rule ought to be employed. The 
ordinary lessons on mental arithmetic have taken their place in the course of in- 
struction separately from the peculiar rules which belong to Pestalozzi's series. 

These lessons also pi'epared the pupils for proceeding at an early period in a 
similar manner Avith the elements of algebra, and with practical lessons in men- 
suration and land-surveying. 

These last subjects were considered of peculiar importance, as comprising 
one of the most useful iudustiial developments of a knowledge of the laws of 
number. Unless, in elementary schools, the instruction proceed beyond the 
knowledge of abstract rules, to their actual application to the practical necessi- 
ties of life, the scholar will have little interest iu his studies, because he will not 
perceive their importance ; and moreover, when he leaves the school, they Avill 
be of little use, because he has not learned to apply liis knowledge to any pur- 
pose. On this account, boys who have been educated in common elementary 
schools, are frequently found, in a few years after they have left, to have 
forgotten the greater part even of the slender amount of knowledge they had 
acquired. 

The use of arithmetic to the carpenter, the builder, the laborer, and artisan, 
ought to be developed by teaching mensuration and land-surveying in element- 
ary schools. If the scholars do not }'emain long enough to attain so high a I'ange, 
the same piinciple should be applied to every step of their progress. The prac- 
tical application of the simplest rules should be shown by familiar examples. As 
soon as the chihl can count, he should be made to count objects, such as 
monev, the figures on the face of a clock, <fec. When he can add, he should have 
before him shop-bills, accounts of the expenditure of earnings, accounts of wages. 
In every arithmetical rule similar useful exercises are a part of the art of a 
teacher, whose sincere desire is to fit his pupil for the application of his knowl- 
edge to the duties of life, the preparation for which should be always suggested 
to the pupil's mind as a powerful incentive to action. These future duties 
should be always placed in a cheering and hopeful point of view. The mere 
repetition of a table of numbers has less of education in it than a drill in the 
balaiice->:tflp. 

Practical instruction in the hook-keeping necessary for the management of the 
household was for these reasons given to those who acted as stewards; accounts 
were kept of the seeds, Tuanure, and garden produce, <fec., as preparatoiy to a 
course of book-keeping, Avhich will follow. 

f Tlie recently rapid development of the mdustry and commerce of this 

* See a description of Miillinuser's melhod, p. 250. 

+ It is somewhat lemiiikable lh;a since Uiis paragraph was written T should have received a 
letter (iMiii one of llie principal directors of a railway company, in which he informs mu ihat the 
frequent recurro^nce of accidents had induced the directors of the railway to make a curcfnl ex- 
amination into Iheir causes. The directors rose from this inquiry convinced that (lit so accidents 
were, to a large extent, attributable to the ignorance of the men whom they had been obliged to 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 3^9 

country by machinery, creates a want for Trell-instructed mechanics, which, in 
the present state of education, it will bo difficult adequately to supply. The 
steam-engines which drain onr coal-fields and mineral veins and beds; which 
whirl along every railroad ; wJiich toil on the surface of every river, and issue 
from every estuary, are committed to the cliarge of men of some practical skill, 
but of mean education. The mental resources of the classes who are practically 
intrusted with the guidance of this great development of national power should 
not be left uncultivated. This new force has grown rapidly, in consequence of 
the genius of the people, and tlie natural resources of this island, and in spite of 
their ignorance. But our supremacy at sea, and our manufacturing and com- 
mercial prosperity (inseparable elements), depend on the successful progress of 
those arts by which our present position has been attained. 

On this account, we have deemed inseparable from the education of a school- 
nia.ster a knowledge of the elements of iiicchardcs and of the laws of heat, suf- 
ficient to enable him to explain the structure of the various kinds of steam- 
engines in use in this country. This instruction has proved one of the chief 
features even of the preparatory course, as we feared that some of the young 
men might leave the establishment as soon as they had obtained the certificates 
of candidates, and we were unwilling that they should go forth without some 
knowledge at least of one of the chief elements of our national prosperity, or 
altogether without power to make the workingman acquainted with the great 
agent which has had more influence on the destiny of the v/orking classes thant' 
any other single fact in our history, and wliich is probably destined to work still 
greater changes. 

Knowledge and national prosperity are hero in strict alliance. Not only do 
the arts of peace — the success of our trade — our power to compete v/ith foreign 
rivals — our safety on our raihvaj's and in onr steam-ships— depend on the spread 
of this kncjwledge, but the future defense of this country from foreign aggression 
can only result from our being superior to every nation in those arts. The 
schoolmaster is an agent despised at present, but whose importance for the 
attainment of this end will, by the results of a few years, be placed in bold 
relief before the public. 

The tutor to whom the duty of communicating to the pupils a knowledge of 
the laws of motion, of the mechanical powers and contrivances, and of the laws 
of heat, was committed, was selected because he was a self-educated man, and 
was willing to avail himself of the more popular methods of demonstration, and 
to postptine the application of his valuable and extensive mathematical acquire- 
ments. By his assistance the pupils and students have been led through a 
series of demonstrations of mechanical combinations, until they were prepaied to 
consider the several parts of the steam-engine, first separately, and in their suc- 
ces.'rive developments and applications, and they are at present acquainted with 
the more complex combinations in the steam-engines now in use, and with th« 
principles involved in their construction and action. 

In geography, it has been deemed important that the tutors should proceed by 
a similar method. The les.sons on land-surveying have familiarized the pupils 
with the nature and uses of maps. As one development of the art of drawing, 
they have been practiced in map-drawing. For this purpose, among other expe- 
dients, the walls of one class-room have been prepared with mastic, in order that 
bold projections of maps might be made on a great scale. 

employ rs engineers, for the want of better; and to the low habits of these men, who. though 
ths'j do nut siit)ject themselves to dismiss.il by such a deli .nee of regulations as to be Ibinid 
"(/r«7i/," are in ihe h ibit of stupetying themseives with dr; ni-drinl;ing! The directors of the 
compiiny had deerinined that the proper remedy for tiiese evils was to provide amusement and 
inslrnclioM for tl.e:r men at night, and aiiplicalion has since been iniide to Mr. Tate, the tutor in 
inech:iiii(s, > c, in the trainins; school, to iitford his assistance in delivering lectures on mechanics 
to ilie engineers, stokers, anJ other servants of the cjinpaiiy. .\ large room hiis been provided 
for .hiSi- purposes, and it is understood to be the intention of the company to draw their servants 
to this room by such amusements as may be more attractive than the tavern— to excite their 
Bttention to sibjectis of instruction appropriate to their duties by a series of popular lectures — and 
then to open cl sses. when they may iearn mechanics, and such ol the elements ot natural science 
as may bj usef 1 to them in their calling. 

As a pari of II. e amusements, application was made by one of the directors to .Mr. Hullah to 
ci*<'ii a Ai.Si like those of the artisans of Paris, and to instruct them in singing on the method ot 
Wilhein.— J. P. Kay. 



3gQ BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

Physical geography has been deemed the true basis of all instruction in the 
geograpliy of industry and commerce, -which ought to form the chief subject of 
geographical instruction in elementary schools. The tutor has first endeavored 
to convince the pupils that nothing -which presents itself to the eye in a well- 
dra-wn map is to be regarded as accidental ; the boldness of the promontories, 
the deep indenture of the bays, the general bearings of the coast, are all refer- 
able to natural la-ws. In these respects the eastern and "western coasts of 
England are in striliing contrast, in appearance, cliaracter, and in the circum- 
stances which occasion their peculiarities. ' The physical geography of England 
commences -with a, description of the elevation of the mountain ranges, the 
different levels, and the drainage of the country. The course, rapidity, and 
volume of the rivers are referable to the elevation and extent of the country 
which they drain. From the climate, levels, and drainage, -with little further 
matter, the agricultural tracts of the country may be indicated, and -when the 
great coal-fields and the mineral veins and beds, tlie depth of the bays and 
rivers are kno-wn, the distribution of the population is found to be in strict rela- 
tion to certain natural laws. Even the ancient political divisions of the country 
are, on inspection, found to be in close dependence on its drainage. The counties 
are river basins, -which were the first seats of tribes of population. If any new 
political distribution were to be made, it would necessarily, in like manner, 
be affected by some natural law, which it is ecpally interesting and useful to 
trace. 

Geography, taught in this way, is a constant exercise to the reasoning power.?. 
The pupil is led to trace the mutual dependence of facts, which, in ordinary in- 
struction, are taught as the words of a vocabulary. Geography taught in the 
ordinary way is as reasonable an acquisition as tlie catalogue of a museum, which 
a student might be compelled to learn as a substitute for natural history. A 
catalogue of towns, rivers, bays, promontories, &c., is even less geography than 
the Avell-arranged catalogue of a museum is natural history, because the classifi- 
cation has a logical meaning in the latter case, which is absent in tlie former. 

As a department of geographical instruction, the elements of the use of the 
globes in connection with nautical astronomy has been cultivated with some 
diligence. 

The outlines only of the history of England have been read, as preparatory 
to a course of instruction in English history, which is to form one of the studies 
of the second year. The history of England has been read in the evening as an 
exercise in the art of reading, and the examinations which have followed have 
been adapted only to secure general impressions as to the main facts of our history. 

Skill in drawing was deemed essential to the success of a schoolmaster. AVith- 
out tliis art he would be unable to avail himself of the important assistance of 
the blackboard, on which liis demonstrations of the objects of study ought to be 
delmeated. His lessons on the most simple subjects would be wanting demon- 
strative power, and he would be incapable of proceeding with lessons in me- 
chanics, without skill to delineate the machines of which his lessons treated. 

The arts of design have been little cultivated among the workmen of England. 
Whoever lias been accustomed to see tlie plans of houses and farm buildings, or 
of public buildings of an humble character from the country, must know tlie ex- 
treme deficiency of our workmen in this application of the art of drawing, wliere 
it is closely connected with the comfort of domestic Ufe, and is essential to the 
skillful performance of public Avorks. The survey now in progress under the 
Tithe Commissioners affords abundant evidence of the want of skill in map-draw- 
ing among the rural surveyors. 

The improvement of our machiney for agriculture and manufactures would be 
in no small degree facilitated, if the art of drawing were a common acquirement 
among our artisans. Invention is checked by the want of skill in communicating 
the conception of the inventor, by drawings of all the details of his combination. 
In all those manufactures of which taste is a principal element, our neighbors, the 
French, are greatly our superiors, solely, we believe, because the eyes and the 
hands of all classes are practiced from a very early age in the arts of design. la 
the elementary schools of Paris, the proficiency of the young pupils in drawing 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. ggj 

is very remarkable, and the evening schools arc filled with young men and 
adnlts of mature or even advanced age, engaged in the diligent cultivation of 
this art. Last Midsummer, in some of the evening schools of the Brothers of the 
Christian Doctrine, classes of workmen were questioned as to their employments. 
One was an ebimiste, another a founder, another a clock-maker, another a paper- 
hanger, another an upholsterer ; and each was asked his hours of labor, and his 
motives for attendance. A single example may serve as a type. A man with- 
out his coat, whose muscular arms were bared by rolling his shirt-sleeves up to 
his shoulders, and who, thougli well washed and clean, wore the marks of toil on 
his white, horny hands, was sitting with an adnilrable copy in crayon of La 
Donna della Segiola before him, which he h.ad nearly completed. He was a 
man about 45 years of age. He said he had risen at five, and had been at work 
from six o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock in the evening, with brief 
intervals for meals ; and he had entered the evening class at eight o'clock, to 
remain there till ten. He had pleasure, he said, in drawing, and that a knowl- 
edge of tlie art greatly improved his skill and taste in masonry. He turned 
round with a good-humored smile, and added, he could live better on less wages 
than an Englishman, because his drawing cost him less than beer. Some thou- 
sand workingracn attend the adult schools every evening in Paris, and the 
drawing classes comprise great numbers whose skill would occasion much aston- 
ishment in this country. The most difficult engravings of the paintings of the 
Italian masters are copied in crayon witli remarkable skill and accuracy. Com- 
plex and exquisitely minute architectural details, such, for example, as perspec- 
tive views of the Duomo at Milan, or the cathedrals at Rouen or Cologne, are 
drawn in pen and ink, with singular fidelity. Some were drawing from plaster 
casts and other models. We found such adult schools in many of the chief towns 
of France. These schools are the sources of the taste and skill in the decorative 
arts, and in all manufactures of which taste is a prominent element, and which 
have made the designs for the caUco-printers, the silk and ribbon looms, the 
papers, (fee, ifec, of France, so superior in taste to those of this country, notwith- 
standing the superiority of our manufactories in mechanical combinations. 

These considerations lead us to account drawing an important department of 
elementary education. The manufacturers of Lancashire are well aware liow 
difficult it is, from the neglect of the arts of design among the laborers of this 
country, to procure any skilled draftsmen to design for the cotton or silk manu- 
facturer. The elevatio'^n of the national taste in art can only be procured by the 
constant cultivation of the mind in relation to the beautiful in form and color, 
by familiarizing the eye with the best models, the works of great artists, and 
beautiful natural objects. Skill in drawing from nature results from a careful 
progress tlu'ough a well-analyzed series of models. The interests of commerce 
are so intimately connected with the results to be obtained by this branch of 
elementary education, that there is little chance that it will much longer suffer 
the grievous neglect it has hitherto experienced. 

The drawing "classes at Battersea were first exercised in very simple models, 
formed of oblong pieces of wood, arranged in a great variety of forms by the 
master, according to the method observed in the Swiss and German schools. 
These were drawn in common and in isometrical perspective, the laws of per- 
spective being at the same time carefully explained, and the rules applied in 
each case to the object which the pupil drew. A very Uttle practice made us 
aware tliat a metliod comprising a more minute analysis of form was necessary 
to the greatest amount of success. Some inquiries which were pursued in Paris 
put us in possession of the method invented by M. Dupuis ; and a series 
of his models were purchased and brought over at the close of the autumn, 
for the purpose of making a careful trial of this method. Considerable difficulty 
was experienced in procuring the services of an artist to superintend the instruc- 
tion ; but at length the application of this method has been commenced, and ia 
in progress. 

The experience of the French inspectors of schools (at an early period after 
the establishment of the system of inspection) convinced them that, to the per- 
fection of skill in drawing form, the practice of drawing from models is necessary. 
The best copyists frequently, or rather generally, were found to fail in drawing 
even very simple natural objects on theh first trials. In the drawing schools at 



gg2 DATTEUSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

P.nri^, in which the most elaborate engravings were admirably copied, an in- 
spector would discover that tlie pupils were unable to draw correctly the pro- 
fessor's desk and chair. It became, therefore, evident that the copy could not 
stand in the place of the natural object. Copying works of art might be essential 
to one department of skill and taste, but it by no means necessarily gave skill 
in drawing from nature. 

M. Dupais was an inspector, and, observing this defect, he invented a series of 
models, ascending from a simple line of wire through various combinations to 
complex figures. These models are f.xcd on an instrutnent, en the level of the 
eye, and niay, by the movement of tlie instrument, be placed in a varying 
perspective. By this means the pupil may learn to draw the simplest objects, 
and pi'oceed by gradual steps through a series of combinations, of an almost in- 
sensibly increasing diiliculty, until he can draw faithfully any object, however 
complex. The instrument which holds the object enables the teacher, by varying 
its position, to give at each lesson a series of demonstrations in perspective, ap- 
plying t])e rules to objects of a gradually increasing complexity, until they are 
understood in their relations to the most difficult combinations. Thus practical 
tikiil and theoretical knowledge are in harmony in this instruction. The taste 
may afterw;ird be cultivated by drawing those works of art best adapted to 
create a just sense of the beautiful in form and color. 

That which a workman first requires is mechanical skill in the art of drawing. 
Nature itself offers many opportunities to cultivate the taste insensibly, and 
skill can be acquired only by careful and prolonged practice in the art of drawing 
from nature. In the more advanced parts of the course, we shall be able to 
satisfy ourselves as to the best mode of using the skill acquired for the formation 
of the taste. 

In tiie normal schools at Versailles one year's instruction had sufficed to give 
the pupils a wonderful facility and skill in drawing from models. Some com- 
plicated pneumatic iipparatus, consisting of glass, mahogany, brass, and in diffi- 
cult perspective, was drawn rapidly, and with great truth and skill. It is not, 
however, our intention to carry the instruction of our pupils in tliis art further 
than is necessary for the industrial instruction of their future scholars. 

Some of the reasons inducing us to attach much importance to the cultivation 
oi vocal music have already been briefly indicated. We regard it as a powerful 
auxiliary in rendering the devotional services of the household, of the parish 
church, and of the village school, solemn and impressive. Our experience satisfies 
us that we by no means over-estimated this advantage, though all the results are 
not yet obtained which we trust will flow from the right use of these means. 

Nor were we indirferent to the cheerfulness diffused in schools by the singing 
of those melodies which are attractive to children, nor unconscious of the moral 
power which music has when linked with sentiments which it is the object of 
education to inspire. We regard school songs as an important means of diffusing 
a cheerful view of the duties of a laborer's life; of diffusing joy and honest pride 
over English hidustry. Therefore, to neglect so powerful a moral agent in 
elementary education as vocal music, would appear to be unpardonable. We 
availed ourselves of some arrangements which were at this time in progress, 
under the superintendence of the Conmiittee of Council, for tlie introduction of 
the method* of M. Wilhem, which has been singularly successful in France. 

A method "which has succeeded in attracting thousands of artisans in Paris 
from low cabarets and miserable gamblingdiouses, to the study of a science and 
the practice of a captivating art, deserves the attention of the public. Mr. 
Hullah, in adapting tlie methoLJ of Wilhem to English tastes and habits, has both 
simplified and refined it. He has, moreover, adapted to it a considerable num- 
ber tif old English melodies, ef great richness and character, which were fast 
passing hito oblivion, and which may be restored to the place they once held in 
the affections of the people, being now allied with words expressive of the joys 
and hopes of a laborer's life, and of the true sources of its dignity and happiness. 

We have assistetl in the development of this method, being convinced that it 
may tend to elevate the character of our elementary schools, and that it may 

* For a description of Wilhem's method, see p. 275. 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 



383 



be of great use throughout the country in restoring many of our best old English 
melodies to their popularity, and in improving the chariicter of our vocal music 
in village churches, through the medium of the parochial schoolmaster and 
his pupils. 

Wlien the preparatory course was sufficiently advanced, a series of lectures on 
the construction and organization of elementary schools, and on the theory and 
art of teaching, were commenced. They have resembled those given in the 
German and Swiss schools under the generic term Pfedagogik. 

Tliey have treated of tlie general objects of CLlucation, and the means of at- 
taining thum. The peculiar aims of elementary education ; the structure of 
school-houses in various parts of Europe ; tlie internal arrangement of the desks, 
forms, and school apparatus, in reference to diiferent methods of instruction, and 
the varieties (f tiiose methods observed in diiferent cotmtries. The theory of the 
discipline of schools. Its practice, describing in detail the different expedients 
resorted to in different countries for the purpose of procuring order, decorum, 
propriety of posture and manner, regularity anJ preci.-.ion in movements, and in 
changes of classes and exercises, and especially tlie right means of securing the 
reverence anJ the love of the chilih'en. This last subject naturally connects the 
consideration of the mechanical and methodic expedients with the consideration 
of tlie sources of the schoolmaster's zeal, activity, and influence, on which much 
has been said. To these subjects have succeeded lectures on the great leading 
distincti(jn-i in tlie methods of communicating kn.)wledge. When the distiaguish- 
mg principles had been described, tlie characteristic features of the several 
methods were examined generailij, and certain peculiar applications of eacji were 
treated. The application of these methods to each individual branch of instruc- 
tion was then commenced, and tliis part of the course lias treate:! of various 
methods of teaching to read, especially giving a minute description of tlie phonic 
methoJ. Of methods of teaching to write, giving a special account of the method 
of Mulhiuser. On the application of writing in various methods of instruction. 
Of methods of teaching to draw, giving a detailed account of that of M. Dupuis. 
Of methaJs of teaching arithmetic, in which the method of Pestalozzi has been 
carefully explained, and other expedients examined. This brief sketch may in- 
dicate the cliaracter of the instruction up to the period of this report. Our 
desire is to anticipate as little as pos.^ible, but, on the contrary, to I'elate only 
what lias been done. "We have therefore only to add, that the instruction in 
Pffidagogik IS in its preparatory stage, and that the course will be pursued, in re- 
lation both to the general theory and practice, and to the special application of 
the theory an 1 priictice to the development of the village school, and of the 
training scliool, through the wliole period of instruction, as that part of the 
studies of the pupils by which the mutual relations of these studies are revealed, 
and their future application anticipated. 

We'regard these lectures, combined with the ze.alous labor of the Hon. and 
Rev. Robert Eden, as the chief means by which, aided by the tutors, such a tone 
of feeling cnn be maintained as shall prepire the teachers to enter upon their 
important duties, actuated by motives which will be the best means of insuring 
their perseverance, and promoting tlieir success. 

The Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, who devote their lives a cheerful 
eacrifice lo the education of the poorer classes of France, can be understood best 
by those who have visited their Novitiate and schools at Paiis. From such per- 
sons we expect acquiescence when we .say, tJiat their example of Christian zeal 
is worthy of the imitation of Protestants. Tliree of the brotliers of this order 
are maintained for a sum which is bai-ely the stipend of one teacher of a scliool 
of nuituid instruction in Paris. Their schools are unquestionably the best at 
Paris. Their manners are simple, affectionate, and sincere. The children are 
singularly attached to them. How could it be othei'wise, when they perceive 
that these good men have no other reward on earth for their manifold labors 
than that of an approving conscience ? 

The reghiie of the Novitiate is one of considerable austerity. They rise at 
four. Th.ey spend an hour in private devotion, wliich is followed by two liours 
of religious exercises in their chapel. They breakfast soon afterward, and are 
in the day schools of Paris at nine. They dine about noon, and continue their 



384 BATTEESEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

attention to the schools till five. They sup at six, and then many of them are 
employed in evening schools for the adults from seven to nine, or from eight to 
ten, when, after prayers, they immediately retire to rest. 

No one can enter the schools of the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine without 
feeling instinctively that he is witnessing a remarkable example of the develop- 
ment of Christian charity. 

With sucli motives should the teachers of elementary schools, and especially 
those who are called to the arduous duties of training pauper children, go forth 
to their work. The path of the teacher is strewn with disappointments, if he 
commence with a mercenary spirit : it is full of encouragement, if he be inspired 
with the spirit of Christian charity. No skill can compensate adequately for the 
absence of a pervadmg religious influence on the character and conduct of the 
schoolmaster. * * * 

The technical instruction in that knowledge which it will be the duty of the 
pupils to communicate in elementary schools, occupies a much greater portion of 
the time in the preparatory course than that which will be allotted to such 
studies in the two subsequent years. 

Every month will now bring into greater prominence instruction, theoretical 
and practical, in the art of teaching. The outlines only of a future course of in- 
struction in tliis most important element of the studies of a training school Ijave 
been communicated. Some of the principles have been laid down, but the ap- 
plication of these principles to each subject of instruction, and the arrangement 
of the entire matter of technical knowledge, in accordance with the principles of • 
elementary teaching, is a labor to which a large portion of the future time of the 
pupils must be devoted. 

Those studies which will prepare them for the performance of collateral duties 
in the village or parish have not been commenced. 

The instruction in the management of a garden ; in pruning and grafting trees ; 
in the relative qualities of soils, manures, and the rotation of garden crops, is to 
form a part of the course of instruction, after tiie certificate of candidate is 
obtained. 

A course on the domestic economy of the poor will be delivered in the same 
year, which will be followed by another on the means of preserving health, 
especially with regard to the employments, habits, and wants of the working 
classes. Some general lectures on the relations of labor and capital will close 
this course. 

From the following extracts from the Report of the Founders of the In- 
stituiion in 1843, it will be seen that they were induced, after three yeara' 
experience, to change one feature of their original plan, and, instead of tak- 
ing boys of the age of fourteen, to select their candidates for admission from 
youths who had attained tlie age of eighteen or twenty years. This change 
has special reference to teachers designed for large schools in commercial 
towns and manufacturing districts. They also advise a course of prepara- 
tory training, previous to their admission into a Normal School, similar to 
that pursued in Holland. 

In Holland, the elementary schoolmasters of every great town form a society, 
associated for their common benefit. Their schools are always large, varying in 
numbers from three to seven hundred, or even a thousand children, who are 
often assembled in one room. Every master is aided by a certain number of 
assistants of different ages, and by pupil-teachers. 

The coui-se through which a youth passes from a po-sition of distinction, as one 
of the most successful scholars, to that of master of a school, is obvious. He is 
apprenticed as a pupil- teacher (an assistant equivalent, in the first stage, to the 
most superior class of our monitors in England). As pupil-teacher he assists in 
the instruction of tlie youngest classes during tlie day. ^vitnessing and taking 
part in the general movements of the school, and in the maintenance of discipline 
and order. He resides with his own family in the city, and before he is admitted 
apprentice, care is taken to ascertain that he belongs to a well-conducted house 



DATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 335 

hold, and that he will be re.ired by his parents in habits of religion and order. 
Every evening all the pupil-teachers of the town are- assembled to receive in- 
struction. The society of teachers provides from its own body a succession of 
mstructors, by one of whom, on each night of the week, the pupil-teachers are 
taught some branch of elementary knowledge necessary to school-keeping. One 
of the most experienced masters of the town, hkewise, gives them lectures on 
method, and on the art of organizing and conducting a school. 

The society of schoolmasters meets from time to time to receive from each pf 
its members an account of the conduct, progress, and qualifications of each pupil- 
teacher in the town, not only in the evening class, but in the school duties of 
the day. 

On the reputation thus acquired, and preserved, depends the progress of the 
pupil-teacher in the art of school-keeping. As his experience becomes more ma- 
tui-e, and his knowledge increases, he is intrusted with more important matters 
and higher classes in the school. He undergoes two successive examinations by 
the Government Inspector, being first admitted candidate and afterward assist- 
ant master, and he is then at liberty to complete his course of training by enter- 
ing the Normal School at Haarlem" irom which he can obtain the highest certifi- 
cates of fitness for the duties of his profession. 

Tliis appears to us a course of training peculiarly -well adapted to the forma- 
tion of masters for the great schools of large towns, and likewise for supplying 
these great schools, during the education of the pupil-teacher, with the indispen- 
sable aid of a body of assistant masters, without which they must continue to be 
examples of an economy which can spare nothing adequate to the improvement 
of the people. 

The formation of a body of pupil-teachers in each great town, thus instructed 
by a society of schoolmasters, is an object worthy of encouragement from the 
Committee of Council, Avho might at least provide the fees and charges of ap- 
prenticeship, and grant exhibitions for the training of the most successful pupil- 
teachers in a Normal School at the close of their apprenticeship, even if the 
Government were indisposed to encounter any of the annual charges incident to 
the plan. 

Few words are requisite to render apparent the difference between the life of 
a pupil-teacher so trained, and tliat of a young novice in a Normal School. The 
familLar life of the parental household, while it exercises a salutary influence on 
the habits and manners of the young candidate, is not remote from the great 
scene of exertion in wliich his future life is to be spent. He is unconsciously 
prepared by the daily occurrences in his father's fivmily, and by his experience 
and instruction in tlie day and evening school, to form a just estimate of the cir- 
cumstances by which he is surrounded. He is trained from day to day in the 
management of the artful and corrupt children even of the dregs of the city, and 
enabled to apply such means as the discipline and instruction of a common scliool 
afford, to the improvement of the moral and intellectual condition of the children 
of the common people. He becomes an agent of civilization, fitted for a peculiar 
work by habit, and prepared to imbibe during the year or year and a half he 
may spend in a Normal School tliose higher maxims of conduct, that more exact 
knowledge, and those more perfect methods of which it is the proper source. 
From such a period of training, he returns to his native city, or is sent to .some 
other town, strong in the confidence inspired by his prolonged experience of the 
peculiar duties he has to perform, either to take a high rank as an assistant mas- 
ter, or to undertake the responsibihty of conducting a town school as its cliief. 

These are the views wliich have led us to conclude that the admission of boi/s 
into a Normal School, as distinguished from a Mother- School, is not a fit jjrepara- 
tion fur the discharge of the duties of a schoolmaster in a large town. 

We have gradually raised the age of admission from 14 to 16, and thence to 
18 or 20 years, and we are now of opinion that few or none should be admitted 
into a Normal School under the latter age. 

Besides the reasons already stated why youths under 18 sliould not be ad- 
mitted into such a scliool, there are some arising out of the internal economy of 
a Normal School of sufiicient importance to deserve enumeration. 

If youths are admitted, none who have arrived at adult age should be per- 
mitted to enter. The youth necessarily enters for a course of training which ex- 



380 BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

tends over several years ; the adult student commonly enters for a year and a 
half or two years. The attainments of all are meager on their admission. In 
the course of a few years, therefore, the youngest pupils are necessarily at the 
head of tlie school in their attainments and skill, which is a source of great dis- 
couragement to an adult entering such an establishment, and a dangerous dis- 
tinction to a youth wliose acquirements have suddenly raised him intellectually 
above all in his sphere of life. The tendencies of such a great disparity in the 
acquirements appropriate to the two classes of age are obviously injurious. We 
have e.'iperienced the consequences of this disparity as a disturbing force in the 
training scliools, and to counteract these tendencies has required a vigilance and 

Erovident care, wliich has increased our labors and anxieties. Few tilings have 
eon more pleasing than the readiness witli wliich some of the oldest students 
who liave entered the schools have taken their seats in the liumblest positions, 
and passed with patient pei'severance through all the elementary drudgery, 
though boys have lield tlie most prominent positions in the first class, and liave 
occasionally become their instructors. On the other hand, to check the conceit 
too frequently engendered by a rapid progress, when attended with such con- 
trast.?, we have suggested to the masters, that, the humble assiduity of tlie re- 
cently entered adult pupil ought to secure an expressive deference and attention. 

The intellectual development of the young pupils is a source of care insignifi- 
cant in comparison Avith that attending tlie forination of their character-i, and 
this could be accomplished with greater ease and certainty if they were the sole 
objects of solicitude. But, as members of an establishment into which adults are 
admitted in an equality or inferiority of position, the discipline is complicated 
and the sources of errcir are increased. 

For these reasons, we prefer to admit into a Normal School only students of 
adult age, reared by religious parents, and concerning Avhose characters and 
qualifications the most satisfactory testimonials can be procured. The inquiries 
pnilimiiiary to the admission of a student should in all cases, where it may be 
practicable, extend to his previous habits and occupations, to the character of 
the household in which he has resided, and the friendships lie has formed. la 
all cases tliose young men are to be preferred wliose previous pursuits warrant 
some confidence in their having a predilection for the duties of a teacher of the 
poor. 

Our plans have therefore tended to the introduction of young men of 18 years 
of age and upward fur a training of one year and a half, which we are led to 
regard as the shortest period which it is desirable they should spend in such a 
school. 

With this explanation of a modification of one feature in their original 
pl.m, the Report for 1843 proceeds to discuss the main objects of a Nor- 
mal School. 

The main object of a Normal School is the fonnation of the character of the 
schoohnarder. This was the primary idea wliich guided our earliest efforts in the 
establishment of the Battcrsea Schools on a basis different from that of any pre- 
vious example in this country. We liave submitted to your lordship the reasons 
■which have led us to modify one of the chief features of our plan, but our con- 
victions adhere with undiminished force to the principle on which the schools 
were originally founded They were intended to bo an institution in which 
every object was subservient to the formation of the character of the .schoolmas- 
ter, as an intelligent Christian man entering on the instruction of tlie poor, with 
religious devotion to his work. If we jiropose to change the means, the end we 
have in view is the same. Compelled by the foregoing considerations to think 
the course of training we proposed for youths does not prepare them for the 
cliarge of large .schools iii manufacturing towns, we are anxious that the system 
pursued in HollanJ should be adopted, as a training prep n-atory to the examin- 
ation of the pupil-teacliers previously to tlieir admission into a Normal Scliool. 
Finding that the patrons of students and the friends of the establisliment are 
nnabk^ for the most part, to support a longer training for young men than one 
year and a half, we are more anxious respecting the investigation of their pre- 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. gg^ 

vious characters and connections, and more fastidious as to their intellectual 
qualifications and acquirements. 

Wlion circumstances thus combine to prevent the residence of the students in 
the training school for a longer period than a year and a half, the inquiries as to 
previous character cannot be conducted with too much care, and the Jirxl month 
of trahdng should, imder any circumstancex, he regarded as probationary. 

Under these arrangements, also, the impression produced upon the characters 
of tiie students during their residence is of paramount importance. 

They are commonly selecteel from an humble sphere. They are tlie sons of 
small tradesmen, of baihffs, of servants, or of superior mechanics. Few have re- 
ceived any education, except that given in a common parochial scliool. They 
read and write very imperfectly ; are unable to indite a letter correctly; and 
are seldom skillful, even in the first four rules of arithmetic. Their biblical 
knowledge is meager and inaccurate, and- all their conceptions, not less on reli- 
gious than on other subjects, are vague and confused, even when tliey are not 
also very limited or erroneous. Their habits have seldom prepared them fur the 
severely regular life of the Normal School, much less for the strenuous eff<;rt of 
attention and application required by the daily routine of instruction. Such con- 
centration of the mind would soon derange the health, if the course of training 
did not provide moderate daily exercise in the garden, at proper intervals. The 
mental torpor, which at first is an obstacle to improvement, generally passes 
away in about three months, and from that period the student makes rapid prog- 
ress in the studies of the school. 

Tliese attainments, humble though they be, might prove dangerous to the 
character of the student, if his intellectual development were the chief concern 
of the masters. 

How easy it would be for hiin to form an overweening estimate of his knowl- 
edge and ability, must be apparent, when it is remembered that he will meas- 
ure his learning by the standard of that possessed by his own friends and neigh- 
bors. He will find himself suddenly raised by a brief course of training to the 
position of a teacher and example. If his mind were not tlioronghly penetrated 
ny religious principle, or if a presumptuous or mercenary tone had been given to 
his character, lie might go forth to bring discredit upon education, by exhibiting 
a precocious vanity, an insubordinate spirit, or a sellisli ambition. He might be- 
come, not the gentle and pious gui;le of the children of the poor, but a hireling, 
into whose mind had sunk the doubts of the skeptic ; in whose heart was the 
worm of social discontent; and who had changed the docility of ignorance and 
fluUiicss, for the restless impatience of a vulgar and conceited sciolist. 

In the formation of the character of the schoolmaster, the discipline of the 
training school should be so devised as to prepare him for the modost respecta- 
bility of his lot. Pie is to be a Christian teacher, following Him who said, "He 
that will be my disciple, let liim take up his cross." Without the spirit of self- 
denial, lie is nothing. His reward must be in his work. There should be great 
eimplicity in the life of such a man. 

Obscure and secluded schools need masters of a contented spirit, to whom the 
training of the children committed to their charge has charms sutlicient to con- 
centrate their thoughts and exertions on the humble sphere in whicli they live, 
notwithstanding the privations of a life but little superior to the level of the 
surrounding peasantry. When the scene of the teaclier's exertions is in a neigh- 
borhood which brings him into association with the middle and upper classes of 
society, his emoluments will be greater, and he will be surrounded by tempta- 
tions which, in the absence of a suitable preparation of mind, might rob liim of 
that huniihty and gentleness which are among the most necessary qualifications 
of the teacher of a common school. 

In the training school, habits should be formed consistent with the modesty of 
his future Ufe. On this account, we attach peculiar importance to the discipline 
which we have established at Battersea. Only one servant, besides a cof)k, has 
been kept for the domestic duties of the household. The whole household work, 
with the exception of the scouring of the floors and cooking, is performed by the 
students ; and they hkewise not only milk and clean the cows, feed and tend 
the pigs, but have charge of the stores, wait upon each other, aird cultivate the 
garden. We cannot too emjihatically state our opinion that no portion of this 



388 BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

work could be omitted, without a proportionate injury to that contentment of 
spirit, witliout whicli the character of the student is liable to be overgi-own with 
the errors we have described. 

The garden-work also serves other important ends. Some exercise and rec- 
reation from the scholastic labors are indispensable. Nevertheless, a large por- 
tion of the day cannot be devoted to it, and Avhen three or four hours only can be 
spared, care should be taken that the whole of this time is occupied by moderate 
and healthful exertion in the open air. A period of recreation employed accord- 
ing to the discretion of the students would be liable to abuse. It might often 
be spent in listless sauntering, or in violent exertion. Or if a portion of the day 
were thus withdrawn from the observation of the masters of the school, it would 
prove a period in Avhich associations might be formed among the students incon- 
sistent with the discipline ; and habits might spring up to counteract the influ- 
ence of the instruction and admonition of the masters. In so brief a period of 
training, it is necessary that the entu'e conduct of the student should be guided 
by a superior mind. 

Not only, by the daily labor of the garden, are the health and morals of the 
school influenced, but habits arc formed consistent with the student's future lot. 
It is well both for his own health, and for the comfort of his family, that the 
schoolmaster should know how to grow his garden stuff, and should be satisfied 
with innocent recreation near his home. 

We have also adhered to the frugal diet which we at first selected for the 
school. Some little variety has been introduced, but we attach great importance 
to the students being accustomed to a diet so plain and economical, and to ar- 
rangements in their dormitories so simple and devoid of luxury, that in after life 
they will not in an humble school be visited with a sense of privation, when their 
scanty fare and mean furniture are compared Avith the more abundant food and 
comforts of the training school. We have therefore met CAa^ry rising complaint 
respecting either the quantity or quality of the food, or the humble accommo- 
dation in the dormitories, Avith explanations of the importance of forming, in the 
school, habits of frugality, and of the pai-amount duty of nurturing a patient 
spirit, to meet the future privations of the life of a teacher of the poor. 

Our experience also leads us to attach much importance to simplicity and pro- 
priety of dress. For the younger pupils we had, on this account, prepared a 
plain dark dress of rifle green, and a Avoi-king dress of fustian cord. As respects 
the adults, Ave have felt the importance of checking the slightest tendency to 
peculiarity of dress, lest it should degenerate into foppery. Vv'e have endeav- 
ored to impress on the students that the dress and the manners of the master 
of a school for the poor sliould be decorous, but that the prudence of his life 
should likcAvise find expression in their simplicity. There should be no habit nor 
external sign of self-indulgence or vanity. 

On the other hand, the master is to bo prepared for a life of laborious exer- 
tion. He must, therefore, form habits of early rising, and of activity and perse- 
vering industry. In the winter, before it is light, the household Avork must be 
finished, and the school-rooms prepared by the students for the duties of the day. 
One hour ami a half is thus occupied. After this Avork is accomphshed, one class 
must assemble Avinter and summer, at a quarter to seven o'clock, for instruction. 
The day is filled Avith the claims of duty requiring the constant exertion of mind 
and bociy, until, at half past nine, the household retire to rest. 

By this laborious and frugal life, economy of management is reconciled with 
the efficiency both of the moral and intellectual training of the school, and the 
master goes forth into the work! humble, industrious, and instructed. 

But into the student's character higher sentiments must enter, if we rightly 
conceive the mission of the master of a school for the poor. On the religious 
condition of the household, under the blessing of God, depends the cultivation 
of that religious feeling, without which the spirit of self sacrifice cannot take its 
right place among the motives which ought to form the mainspring of a school- 
master's activity. 

There is a necessity for incessant vigilance in the manar/ement of a traitiing 
school. The principal should be tuise as a serpent, while tlie gentleness of bis 
discipline, and his affectionate solicitude for the Avell-being of his pupils, should 
encourage the most unreserved communications with him. Much of his leisure 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. ^QQ 

should be devoted to private interviews with the students, and employed in in- 
stillins^ into tlieir minds high principles of action. A cold and repulsive air of 
authority may preserve the appearance of ordei', regularity, and submission in 
the houseliold ; but these will prove delusive signs if the principal does not pos- 
sess the respect and confidence, not to say the affections, of his charge. He 
should be most accessible, and unwearied in the patience with Avliich he listen."} 
to confessions and inquiries. While it is felt to bo impossible that he should 
enter into any compromise with evil, there should be no such severity in his tone 
of rebuke as to check that confidence which seeks guidance from a superior in- 
telligence. As far as its relation to the principal only is concerned, every fault 
should be restrained and corrected by a conviction of the pain and anxiety which 
it causes to an anxious friend, rather than by the fear of a too jealous authority. 
Thus conscience will gradually be roused by the example of a master, respected 
for his purity, and loved for his gentleness, and inferior sentiments will be re- 
placed by motives derived from the highest source. 

"Where so much has to be learned, and where, among other studies, so much 
religious knowledge must be acquired, there is danger that religion should be 
regarded chiefly as a subject for the exercise of the intellect. A speculative re- 
ligious knowledge, without those habits and feelings which are the growth of 
deeply-seated religious convictions, may be a dangerous acquisition to a teacher 
of the young. How important, therefore, is it that the religious services of the 
household should become the means of cultivating a spirit of devotion, and that 
the religious instruction of the school should be so conducted as not merely to 
inform the memory, but to master the convictions and to interest the feelings ! 
Religion is not merely to be taught in the school — it must be the element in 
which the students live. 

This religious life is to be nurtured by the example, by the public instruction 
of the principal, and by his private counsel and admonition ; by the religious 
services of the household ; by the personal intercourse of the studeiits, and the 
habits of private meditation and devotion which they are led to form; by the 
public worship of the church, and by the acts of charity and self-denial which 
belong to their future caUing. 

Plow important is it that the principal should embody such an example of pu- 
rity and elevation of character, of gentleness of manners, and of unwearied be- 
nevolence, as to increase the power of his teaching, by the respect and conviction 
which wait upon a consistent life ! Into the religious services of the household 
he should endeavor to inspire such a spirit of devotion as would spread itself 
through the familiar life, and hallow every season of retirement. The manage- 
ment of the village school affords opportunities for cultivating habits of kindness 
and patience. The students should be instructed in the organization and con- 
duct of Sunday-schools ; they should be trained in the preparation of the volun- 
t.ary teachers by previous instruction : in the visitation of the absent children ; 
in the management of the clothing and sick clubs and libraries attached to such 
schools. They should be accustomed to the performance of those parochial du- 
ties in which the schoolmaster may lighten the burden of the clergyman. For 
this purpose, they should learn to keep tlie accounts of tlie benefit club. They 
should instruct and manage the village choir, and should learn to plav the organ. 

While in attendance on the village school, it is peculiarly important that they 
should accompany tlie master in his visits to children detained at home by sick- 
ness, and should listen to the words of counsel and comfort which he may then 
administer; they should also attend him when his duty requires a visit to the 
parents of some refractory or indolent scholar, and should learn how to secure 
their aid in the correction of the faults of the child. 

Before he leaves the training school, the student should have formed a distinct 
conception, from precept and practice, how his example, his instruction, and his 
works of charity and rehgion, ought to promote the Christian civilization of the 
community in which he lai)ors. 

Turn Ave again to the contrast of such a picture. Let us suppose a school in 
which this vigilance in the formation of character is deemed superfluous; or a 
principal, the guileless simplicity of whose character is not strengthened by the 
wisdom of experience. A fair outward show of order and industry, and great 
intellectual development, may, in either case, be consistent with the latent prog- 



390 BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

ress of a rank corruption of manners, mining all beneath. Unless the searching 
intelligence of the principalis capable of discerning the liisposition-^ of his charge, 
and anticipating their tendencies, he is unequal to the task of molding tlie minds 
of his pupils, by tlie power of a loftier character and a superior will. In that 
case, or when the pi'incipal deems such vigilance superfluous, and is content with 
the intellectual labors of his office, leaving the little republic, of wliidi he is the 
head, to form its own manners, and to create its own standard of principle and 
action, the catastrophe of a deep ulcerous corruption is not likely to be long de- 
layed. 

In either case, it is easy to trace the progress of degeneracy. A school, in 
which the formation of character is not the cliief aim of the masters, must aban- 
don tliat all-important end to the republic of scholars. When these are selected 
from the educated and upper ranks of society, the school will derive its code of 
morals from that prevalent in such classes. When the pupils belong to a very- 
humble class, their characters are liable, under such arrangements, to be com- 
pounded of the ignorance, coarseness, and vices of the lowest orders. One pu- 
pil, the victim of low vices, or of a vulgar coarseness of thought, escaping the eye 
of an imsuspicious principal, or unsought for by the vigilance which is expended 
on the intellectual progress of the school, may corrupt the private intercnurse of 
the students with low buffoonery, profligate jests, and sneers at the self-denying 
zeal of the humble student ; may gradually lead astray one after another of the 
pupils to clandestine habits, if not to the secret practice of vice. Under such 
circumstances, the counsels (sf the principal would gradually become subjects of 
ridicule. A conspiracy of direct insubordination would be formed. The influ- 
ence of the superior would barely maintain a fair external appearance of order 
and respect. 

Every master issuing from such a school would become the active agent of a 
degeneracy of manners, by which the humbler ranks of society would be infected. 

The formation of the character is, therefore, the chief aim of a training school, 
and tlie principal should be a man of Christian earnestness, of intelligence, of ex- 
perience, of knowledge of the world, and of the humblest simplicity and purity 
of manners. 

Next to the formation of the character of the pupil is, in our estimation, the 
general development of his intelligence. The extent of his attainments, though 
within a certain range a necessary object of his training, should be subordinate 
to that mental cultivation, v.'hich confers the powers of self-education, and gives 
the greatest strength to his reflective f.icuUies. On this account, among others, 
we attach importance to the methods of imparting knowledge ])ursued in the 
Normal School. While Ave have insured that the attainments vf the students 
should be e.xact, by testing them with searching examinations, repented at the 
close of every week, and reiterated lessons on all subjects in which any deficiency 
was discovered, nothing has been taught by rote. The memory has never been 
stored, without the exercise of the reason. Nothing has been learned wJiich has 
not been understood. This very obvious course is too frequently lost sight of 
in the humbler branches of learning — principles being hidden in rules, defining 
only their most convenient application ; or buried under a heap of facts, united 
by no intelligible link. To form the character, to develop the iutelligence, and 
to store the mind with the requisite knowledge, these were tlaj objects of the 
Normal School. 

In the village school a new scene of labor developed itself, Mdiicli has been in 
progress since the period of our last report, and has now nearly reached its term. 
If we attach pre-eminent importance to the formation of character as tlie object 
of the Normal School, a knowledge of the metliod of managing an elementary 
school, and of instructing a class in each branch of elementary knowledge, is the 
peculiar object of the model-school attached to any training institution. In its 
proper province as subordinate to the instruction and training in a Normal School, 
it is difficult to exaggerate the importance to a teacher, of a th(:r>)Ug]) familiarity 
with the theory and practice of organizing and conducting common schools. With- 
out this, the most ju<licious labor in the Normal School may, so far as tlie future 
usefulness of the student as a schoolmaster is concerned, be literally wasted. It 



BATTER T.A 



391 



is possible to conceive that the char ic'er may be formed on the purest model ; 
that the intelligence may have bee' :i kept in healthful activity ; and that the 
requisite general and technical instruction may ha7e been acquired, yet without 
the aptitude to teach ; without skill acquired from precept and example ; with- 
out the habits matured in the discipline of schools ; without the metliods in 
which the art of teacliing is reduced to technical rules, and the matter of instruc- 
tion arranged in the most convenient form for elementary scholars, the previous 
labor wants the link which unites it to its peculiar task. On the other hand, to 
select from the common drudgery of a handcraft, or from the humble, if not moan 
pursuits of a petty trade, a young man harely (if indeed at all) instructed in the 
humblest elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic, and to conceive that a 
few montlis' attendance on a model-school can make liim acquainted witli the tlie- 
ory of its organization, convert him into an adept in its methods, or even rivet 
upon his stubborn memory any si,gn!ticant part of tlie technical laiowledge of 
which he has immediate need, is a mistake too shameful to be permitted to sur- 
vive its universal failure. 

"WTien we speak of the necessity of a thorough acquaintance with metlsods of 
organizing and teaching in common schools, we mean to exalt the importance of 
previous training of the character, expansion of tlie intelligence, and sufficient 
technical instruction. Witlioul this previous preparation, the instruction in the 
model-school is empirical, and. the luckless wight would have had greater suc- 
cess in liis handcraft, tliaii he can hope to enjoy in his school. 

For these reasons, among others, the attention of the students has especially 
of late been directed to the theory of the organization of schools, and to the ac- 
quirement of the art of teacliing. 

The method of conveying instruction is peculiarly important in an elementary 
school, because the scholars receive no learning and little judicious training at 
home, and are, therefore, dependent for their education on the very limited pe- 
riod of their attendance at school. On this account nothing superfluous should 
be taught, lest what is necessary be not attained. Tlie want of a fit pi'eparation 
of the mind of the scholar, and the brevity of his school life, are reasons for adopt- 
ing the most certain and efncacious means of imparting knowledge, so that this 
short period may become as profitable as possible. The regularity of the child's 
attendance, the interest he takes in his learning, and his succes.*, will be promoted 
by the adoption of means of instruction suited to the state of liis faculties and 
the condition of society from which he is taken. If his progress be obstructed 
by the oUscurity of his master's teaching, and by the absence of that tact which 
captivates the imagination of children, and rouses the activity of their minds, the 
scholar will become dull, listless, and untoward ; will neglect his learning and 
his school, and degenerate into an obstinate dunce. The easiest transition in 
acquirement is in the order of simplicity from the known to the unknown, and 
it is indispensable to skillful teaching that the matter of instruction should be 
arranged in a synthetic order, so that all the elements may have to each other 
the relation of a progressive series from the most simple to the most comples;. 
This arrangement of the matter of instruction requires a previous analysis, wliich 
can only be successfully accomplished by the devotion of much time. Such 
methods are only gradually brought to perfection by experience. The element- 
ary schoolmaster, however highly instructed, can seldom be expected to possess 
either the necessary leisure or the peculiar analytical talent ; and unless this work 
cf arrangement be accomplished for him, he cannot hope, by the technical instruc- 
tion of the Normal School, to acquire sufficient skill to invent a method by ar- 
ranging the matter of instruction. 

In order, therefore, that he may teach nothing superiluous ; that he may con 
vey his instruction in the most skillful manner, and in the order of simplicity, it 
is necessary that he should become acquainted with a method of communicating 
each branch of knowledge. 

This is the more important, because individual teaching is impossible in a 
common school. Every form of organization, from the monitorial to the simulta- 
neous, includes more or less of collective teaching. The characteristics of skillful 
collective teaching are the simplicity and precision with which the knowledge is 
communicated, and the logical arrangement of the matter of instruction. Dif- 

25 



202 BATTER3EA TRAINING SCHOOL. 

fuse, desultory, or unconnected k^sons are a "waste of time ; they leave no perma- 
nent traces on the memory ; they confuse the minds of children, instead of in- 
structing them and strengthening their faculties. 

Certain moral consequences also flow from the adoption of skillful methods of 
teaching. Tlie relations of regard and respect Avhich ought to exist between 
tlie master and his scholars are liable to disturbance, when, from his imper- 
fect skill, tlieir progress in learning is slow, their minds remain inactive, and 
their exertions are languid and unsuccessful. A school in which the master is 
inapt, and the scholars are dull, too frequently becomes the scene of a harsher 
di;>cipline. Inattention must be prevented — indolence quickened — impatience 
restrained — insubordination and truancy corrected ; yet all these are early con- 
sequences of the want of skill in the master. To enforce attention and indus- 
try, and to secure obedience and decorum, the languid and the listless are too 
often subjected to the stimulus of coercion, when the chief requisite is method 
and tact. The master supplies his own deficiencies with the rod; and what he 
cannot accomplish by skill, he endeavors to attain by the force of authority. 

Such a result is not a proper subject of wonder, when the master has received 
no systematic instruction in method. To leave the student without the aid of 
method, is to subject him to the toil of analysis and invention, when he has neither 
the time nor the talent to analyze and invent. 

The Report of 1843 dwells on the several methods previously noticed in 
the extracts already made from the Report of 1841 , and concludes as follows : 

These several Methods have now been tested by expeiience on the most pub- 
lic theater, and have become an important part of the instruction of masters 
of elementary schools. The Manuals in which they are embodied render their 
acquisition comparatively easy even to those who do not enjoy the advantage of 
receiving lessons in the art of teaching by them from adepts. The school of 
method will place within the reach of the schoolmasters of the metropolis the 
means of acquiring the requisite skill ; and the body of schoolmasters, whom the 
Normal Schools will annually disseminate, will diffuse them through the country. 
Every school conducted with complete efficiency by a master trained in a Normal 
School, will become a model to neighboring schools which have not enjoyed sim- 
ilar advantages. On this account alone, it is important that no student from a 
Normal School should commence his labors in the country until he has acquired 
a mastery of the methods of teaching these necessary elements. 

In a course of instruction extending over a year and a half, a student ought to 
spend three hours daily, during six or eight months, in the practice of the art of 
teachmg in the village school. When the course of instruction is necessardy lim- 
ited to one year, four months should be thus employed, and during the entire 
period of his training, instruction in method should form an element of the daily 
routine in the Normal School. 

By such means alone can a rational conception of method be attained, and that 
skill in the art of conducting a school and instructing a class without wliich aU 
the labors of the Normal School in imparting technical knowledge are wasted, be- 
cause the student has no power of communicating it to others. 

In the Report of 1847, the Inspector, Mr. Moseley, makes the following 
remarks : 

There is one point of view in which we cannot but speak of the labors of this 
institution with unmingled satisfaction. It stands out honorably distinguished 
from all others as a place where the methods of elementary instruction arc 
recognized as legitimate objects of research, and where teaching is studied as 
AN art. 

That shifting, dreamy state of the mind which is associated with mechanical 
pursuits, such as have usually been the previous pursuits of the students of 
training institutions, does not readily pass into a close and continuous apphcation 
of the understanding, any more than, in respect to our bodily health, a state of 
constant physical exertion gives place quietly to a sedentary life. A laborer is 
not easily converted uito a student. It is not to be done by putting a book be- 



BATTERSEA TRAINING SCHOOL. 393 

fore him. He may sit with tliat book before him for months, and yet never begin 
to learn. 

Such a man requires to be roused from that mental apathy which has grown 
upon him by tlie disuse of his faculties, and to be taught the secret of his pow- 
ers. This is best effected by the direct contact of his own mind with that of a 
vigorous teacher, and for tliis reason oral instruction is specially adapted to the 
business of a training school. 

A system which limits itself to this expedient of instruction will probably, how- 
ever, fail of some important results. The teacher must also be a student. Un- 
less this be the case, the lessons he gives in his school will echo every day more 
faintly the instructions he received at the college. Each lesson should have had 
its preparation. However humble the subject, or the class of children to whom 
it is addressed, there is probably some information to be gathered from books 
which is applicable to it ; and it is in the direction of such applications that lie 
the legitimate studies of the teacher — studies not less valuable in their influence 
upon his school than upon himself 

The labor of oral instruction is, however, so great, that to adopt it in respect 
to ever so small a number of students, supposes the union of several teachers ; 
and thus is obtained that division of the subjects taught among the teachers 
which enables each to confine his attention to a particular class of subjects, and 
thereby himself to acquire not only that greater knowledge of these subjects, but 
of the best -means of teaching them, whicli is essential to his success. 

It is not only, however, because each teacher teaches better, that a favorable 
influence is to be attributed to the labors of various teachers in an institution 
like this, but because there is an awakening and stimulating power in the rude 
attacks made by a succession of vigorous teachers — each with a difl^erent subject, 
and an energy concentrated in it — on a sluggish understanding ; and in the dif- 
ferent impressions they leave upon it. 

There are phases in every man's mind which adapt it to receive impressions 
from one teacher rather than another, as well as from one subject rather than 
from another. And thus, between one of a succession of teachers and some in- 
dividual student, there may be establislied sympathies which no other could 
have awakened, and there may be commenced a process of instruction in some 
individual mind, which the united labors of all the rest could not have moved. 

If any tiling had been wanting to confirm in our minds the favorable opinion 
which has been earned for it among the friends of education, by the many ad- 
mirable teachers it has sent out, the experience of om- examination would have 
supplied it. 

Fifty-four young men were assembled who, originally educated here, had for 
various periods of from one to seven years been in charge of elementary schools. 
An opportunity was afforded us of forming the personal acquaintance of these 
men, and each of them taught in our presence one of the classes of the village 
school. 

The impression we received of them from these efforts was eminently favora- 
ble. Nor was this favorable opinion shaken by an examination of the papers 
written ui answer to the questions we proposed to them. Although their course 
of regular instruction had in many cases long ceased, the knowledge they had 
acquired had not been lost. It was evident that their education had been of 
that kind which has a tendency to perfect itself and that the process of instruc- 
tion commenced here in their minds had gone on. 



TRAINING COLLEGE 



THE DIOCESE OF CHESTER, ENGLAND. 



The following accoimt of the Chester Diocesan Training College, 
England, is abridged from Reports by Rev. Henry Mosely, one of her 
Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, to the Committee of Council on Education 
for 1845 and 1846. The Reports will be found in the '■'■ Minutes of the 
Committee of Council on Education'''' for 1844 and 1845. 

The Chester Diocesan Training College was commenced by the Chester 
Diocesan Board of Education, in 1840. The College is situated on 
elevated ground, adjacent to the high road which leads from Chester to 
Park Gate, and is distant about one quarter of a mile from the north gate 
of the city, and a little less east, from the R,iver Dee. It commands 
towards the west, an uninterrupted prospect of 1 2 or 1 4 miles, terminated 
by the hills of Denbighshire and Flintshire, and, from its upper windows, 
an equally extensive view eastward, over Cheshire. With its garden and 
grounds, it occupies five acres of land, one of which is freehold, held by 
deed of gift from the Dean and Chapter of Chester, and four acres (being 
pasture land) on lease, renewable every 21 years, and held under the same 
corporation. The property is conveyed in trust, for the purposes of the 
Institution, to the Chester Diocesan Board of Education, the Bishops of 
Chester, and the Deans of Chester and Manchester. 

The material of the building is brickwork, with red sandstone facings. 
It has two principal fronts — the one towards the east extending on the line 
of the Park Gate-road ; and the other towards the west, being that of the 
Principal's residence, and commanding a view of the Denbighshire hills. It 
is a structure of a grave and massive yet pictui'esque character, and of the 
Tudor style of architecture, to which its irregular outline is well adapted. 
In the adjustment of its proportions, in its decorations suitable to the 
material, and in the selection of its architectural forms, it presents a com- 
bination of great merit and of a very appropriate character. The building 
was erected in the years 1841 and 1842, and prepared for the reception of 
the students at an expense of about £10,752. raised by donations in the 
diocese, aided by a grant of £2500 from your Lordships. A model school- 
room has since been added to it, — additional accommodation provided for 
20 students, — and your Lordships have contributed a further sum of £1200 
towards those objects. The design of the Institution unites, with the 
training of schoolmasters, the instruction of a commercial school, — the 
pupils of which are received as boarders — and the instruction of an ele- 
mentary school. Provision is made within the walls for these several 
departments. 

The general management is vested in a Committee of the Chester 
Diocesan Board of Education, composed of 21 members. 

The following is an official statement of the objects of the Institution, 
and of the conditions upon which students are received into it : 

The object intended to be promoted by this Institution is to prepare, as far as a 
correctly religious, moral, and scientific training can do it, a supply of Masters, for 
the parochial-church schools in the diocese of Cbester. 

The Institution is under the presidency of the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, and 
has the sanction of the very Reverend the Deans, and the Reverend the Chapters 



396 CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 

of Chester and Manchester. The office of Principal is vested in the Reverend 
Arthur Rigg, M.A. of Christ's College, Cambridge. The Vice-Principal is also a 
graduate of that university. 

The times for the admission of students are tvro in the course of each year — 
viz., in January and in July. 

Attention is directed to the following extracts from the Resolutions of the Train- 
ing College Committee. 

Objects of the Institution. — The Chester Diocesan Training College consists of 
an elementary school for the children of the poor, to be regarded as a model 
school. 

A school for the education of Masters of elementary schools for the children of 
the poor, to be regarded as a normal school. 

As subsidiary to tliese objects, a middle school for the education of the children 
from the middle classes. 

Scheme of Instruction. — " That subject to such alterations as the Training School 
Committee may from time to time sanction, the following be tlie general Scheme 
of Instruction in the Training School : 

RELIGION. GENERAL. 

Holy Scriptures. English Grammar and Reading. 

Evidences of Christianity. Geography and History. 

Church Catechism. "Writing and Arithmetic. 

Daily and Occasional Services of Liturgy Book-keeping. 

XXXIX. Articles. Theory and Practice of Teaching 

Church History. Psalmody. 

History of the Reformation. 

Instruction may also be given, at the discretion of the Principal, with reference 
to the capacity of the pupil and the situation for Avhich he is designed, in 

The Latin and Greek Languages, Linear Drawing, 

Natural Philosophy, Mapping, 

Trigonometry, The French Language, 

Navigation, Elements of Geometry and Algebra, 

subject to the approval of the Training School Committee." 

Number of Pupils. Exhibitioners — " That the number of pupils training as 
masters, until the Board sliall otherwise determine, be limited to fifty — wlio shall 
pay £25 per annum for their board and instruction (all payments being made 
quarterly in advance). That of these a number not exceeding half shall receive 
exhibitions of £12 10s per annum each, to be appointed according to merit, and 
that the exhibition be lield for a period not longer than three years, subject never- 
tiieless to forfeiture, if the individual appointed do not, in tlte opinion of the Com- 
mittee, by assiduity and good conduct continue to merit it." 

Caution Monctj. — " That each person, before his name be entered as a candidate 
for admission, pay one pound ; this sum to be returned if lie come into residence ; 
— to be forfeited for the use of the Library Fund if he do not." 

Students to enter into a Bond. — "That every pupil training for a master, or 
other person on his behalf be required to enter into a legal engagement, binding 
him to the following effect, viz. : — 

" That in case lie sliall decline, when so required by the Principal, to underta,ko 
the duties of a schoolmaster or assistant, -within one year after ho has left the 
establishment, and also in case at any period not exceeding four years from his 
undertaking such duties, he shall decline to continue the same, the Diocesan Board, 
Training College, Committee, or any one acting by their authority, sliall with due 
regard to his health, services and other circumstances, have power to require of 
bim the payment of any sum not exceeding twice the amount which shall have 
been paid to him or applied to his benefit as sucli student." 

Times of Admission. — " That pupils for training be admitted into the Establish- 
ment half-yearly, on certain days to be fixed by the Committee, of which due 
notice shall be given by the Principal." 

Age of Candidates. — " That, except in special cases, when the examiners shall 
otherwise determine, no pupil be admitted before the age of fifteen, nor be recom- 
mended as a schoolmaster before the age of eighteen, having studied at least one 
year in the Institution ; and that no pupil remain for a longer period than five 
jears. And that no person be eligible as a pupil to the Training School, who, 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TRArNING COLLEGE. 397 

from any. bodily infirmity, is disqualified from efficiently discharging the duties of 
a schoolmaster," 

Certificate of Baptism. — "That every pupil, on becoming a candidate for 
admission into tlie Training School, be required to produce a certiiicate or sufficient 
testimonial of baptism, and a certiticate from the minister of the parish in -which 
he lias resided, according to the following form ; 

" I, A. B., Incumbent or Curate of • , do herety certify thit C. D. has 
resided in this Parish for the space of , and that I believe him to be quali- 
fied in character and attainments to become a Candidate for adraission' into the 
Training College at Chester." 

Examinntions of Cajididates. — " That candidates for admission be subjected to 
an examination to be conducted by the Principal, the Chancellor of tlie Diocese, 
the Canon in residence at Chester, and one of the elected masters of liigher schools. 
That each candidate be required to read and spell correctly — to write a good plain 
hand — to be well versed in tlie iirst four rules of arithmetic — to possess a general 
knowledge of tlie Old and New Testament — and to be able to repeat accurately 
the Church Catecliism," 

Every candidate for admission is required to answer the foUow^ing ques- 
tions in -writing, space being left for his ansvi^ers on a printed copy of thera 
^Yhich is placed before him: — 

What is your age ? 

Have you been vaccinated ? 

Are you now and usually in a good state of \_ 
health ? J 

Are you -without any bodily defect ? 

-Where did you receive your education ? 

What is your present situation in life — why 
leaving it — and -what is the average of your 
weekly earnings ? 

Have you been accustomed to teach either in ) 
a day or Sunday school — if so, where and for V 
v/hat period of time ? ) 

Have you any knowledge of music, singing, \ 
or drawing? J 

Name, 

Trade 

Address. 



Who becomes responsible for your quarter's ) m j m- 

payment in advance.' i Trade or callmff,- 



Data, Sign with your own 

name and address. 3 

Every candidate for admission is moreover required to sign tlie follo-vring 
declaration: 

" I hereby declare that my object in entering the Chester Diocesan Training 
College is to qualify myself for a schoolmaster, and that I will not take any situ- 
tion, either as a sclioolmaster or otlierwise, without the consent of the Board, and 
repayment of the money expended on my preparatory Education, and that, wlien 
required, I will accept the office of schoolmaster under and in connexion with the 
Diocesan Board of Education." 

Fifteen exhibitions, each of £ 1 2 1 Os annually, have been founded by the 
Diocesan Board, and one of the same amount by W. E. Gladstone, Esq., 
M.P. The whole charge upon the funds of the Institution, in respect to 
exhibitions, amounts therefore to £187 10s. 

The National Society has founded a number of exhibitions to meet in 
part, the expenses of the residence of twenty masters, over twenty-one 
years of age, for a period not less than three and not more than eight 
months. The number of students at the period of my first inspection was 
56, of whom 1 4 were schoolmasters resident, temporarily, upon the exhi- 
bitions of the National Society. There average age v/as 27 years. The 
ages of the students of the class permanently resident in the Institution 
varied at the period of my first inspection from 17 to 37 years, their meaa 
age being 25 years. 

The previous occupations of 21 of the regular students, being one-half 



398 CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 

of the whole number, had been of a mechanical character, connected for the 
most part with tlie manufacturers of the district ; they had, in point of fact, 
been, under one form or another, workmen. Of the remainder, 8 had 
been employed in schools, and the rest had for the most part been ware- 
housemen or clerks. 

I have been thus particular in recording the previous occupations of 
these young men, from an impression that, in estimating the probable re- 
sources of such an institrition, and the results attainable from it, it is de- 
sirable to know who are likely to frequent it. 

I find that 8 are supported in the Institution at their own charge, 18 at 
the cost of their parents or other relations, and 9 by private patrons — 
chiefly benevolent clergymen. Of these, 14 are aided by exhibitions of the 
Diocesan Board. The previous instruction of the greater number was 
commenced in National Schools. Their school-days, however, had termi- 
nated at a very early period of life, and what they knew had chiefly been 
acquired during the intervals of daily labor. Attainments, however 
meagre, made imder such circumstances, are evidences of a superior 
character — they are the fruits of self-dedication and self-sacrifice for the 
attainment of an important and a laudable object, and they bear testimony 
to a thirst for knowledge already created, and a habit of self-instruction 
already formed. 

These- are qualifications of no mean value for the career on which they 
enter at the Training College. On the other hand, it is to be borne in 
mind that there is nothing in mechanical occupations, however favorable 
in some cases to reflection, to exercise a prompt and facile intelligence, or 
cultivate a verbal memory and an opulent diction. With few exceptions 
they had been accustomed to teach in Sunday-schools, and the extensive 
Scriptural knowledge of which my examination supplied me with the 
evidence, was probably acquired in this occupation. Where their secular 
knowledge on admission extended beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic, 
it included in seven or eight cases, a little Latin, and in five, the first 
principles of algebra and geometry. The dialect and pronounciation of 
many of them I found to be strongly provincial, and the articulation in 
reading imperfect. 

Their arithmetical knowledge on their admission, often includes all the 
rules usually taught in books on arithmetic; but it is a knowledge limited 
to the application of the rule mechanically, with a greater or less amount 
of accuracy and facility ; and does not include any intelligence of the 
principles of calculation on which it is founded, much less of the best 
means of bringing the minds of children to the intelligence of them. 

The students rise at 5 o'clock in the summer and at a J before 7, in the 
winter.* They make their own beds ; and in summer devote the interval 
between i past 5 and 7, to Scriptural instruction, and to the preparation of 
lessons for the next succeeding day. Prayers are read at 7 o'clock, and at 
a i past 7 they breakfast. The interval from a i before 8 to a J past 8 is 
devoted to industrial occupations, carried on for the most part in the open 
air, or (the weather being unfavorable) to psalmody. At i past 8 their 
morning studies commence, and are continiied to 1 past 11. The interval 
between i past 11 and f after 12 they again devote to industrial pursuits, 
the weather permitting. They dine at 1 o'clock, and resume their studies 
at 2. The interval from 5 to i past 7 is allowed them for private reading 
and exercise, and it is in this interval that they take their evening meal. 
Their evening studies begin at i past 7, and are continued until a i past 8. 

*Any number, not less than four, who come down to pursue their studies at an earlier hour 
than this in the winter are allowed to light the gas in the class rooms. 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 399 

At -J- past 8 evening prayers are read, the service being choral and accom- 
panied by the organ, and at 9 they retire to rest. In the dormitories the 
gas-lights burn for three-quarters of an hour after they have retired to rest, 
a period which they have the opportunity of devoting to religious reading 
and to their devotions. 

The following is a list of the officers of the Institution : 

Rev. Arthur Rigg, M.A., Christ College, Cambridge, Principal. 

Rev. Richard Wall, B.A., St. John's College, Cambridge, Vice- 
Principal. 

Mr. Henry Beaumont, Master inthe Commercial School. 
*Mr. Richard Griffies, blaster in the Commercial School. 
*Mr. Lawrence W. Riley, Master of the Model School. 

The teachers of the commercial school occasionally assist in the instruc- 
tion of the students of the training school. No other masters are employed 
than those above enumerated, all of whom are resident witliin the walls of 
the Institution. 

The Principal is assisted in the general supervision of the Institution, by 
one of the students called the scholar, selected from among the exhibition- 
ers, and changed every week according to a cycle fixed at the commence- 
ment of each half year. His duties are as follows: — 

Duties of the Scholar. 

1. To inspect the bed-roonas and be responsible for their order. To open all ■windo'ws 
upstairs. 

2. To go to the post-ofRce at 9 o'clock A.i\I. and leave the order-book in the usual place. 

3. To ring the bell at all the doors at the appointed hours. 

4. To have a general care over all the in-door property of the building. 

5. To keep the library in order, and to be responsible for class-books, and to prepare the books 
for each lesson. 

6. To receive all letters for post at i to 8 P.M. 

7. To receive all articles for the tailor and shoemaker before 5 o'clock P.M. on Thursday. 

8. To take the board containing the scheme of work into the study on Thursday evening. 

9. To p;it up the calender for the week on the Saturday previous ; also to put up a copy of 
the psalm-tune for Sunday on the Monday evening previous. 

10. For neglect or breach of these rules the scholar may be punished at the discretion of the 
Principal. 

Another student, selected according to a weekly cycle from among those 
who will leave the Institution at the following vacation, is appointed under 
the designation of an "orderly." specially to assist the Principal in matters 
connected with the discipline of the Institution and the industrial occupa- 
tions of the students. His duties are as follows : 

Duties of Orderly. 

1. Not to allow any student to talk or make a noise before prayers (morning) and at meals. 

2. To see that shoes are on at least 5 minutes before prayers, Thursday and Sunday excepted. 

3. To order and arrange for prayers. 

4. To bolt the yard-doors when the bell has rung for each meal. 

5. To have the control, direction, &c., of the manner in which work is to be done ; the employ- 
ment of any who are idle ; and the general care, &c., of tools, &c., and all the out-door property 
of the building. 

6. To see that the students are seated 10 minutes after the bell has rung in the morning and 
2 in the afternoon. 

7. To attend to order in classes at lessons both as regards persons and places. 

8. 'The orderly to provide a towel every Saturday night for the use of the students in the 
yard. 

9. For neglect or breach of these rules the orderly may be punished at the discretion of the 
Principal. 

The period devoted every week to each subject of instruction will be 
found specified in the following table : 



* These were recently students in the Institution. 



400 CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 

Time devoted in the course of the Week to each subject of Instruction. 

H. M. 

Scriptural knowledge ..--...---80 

Evidences of Christianity 10 

Church History 1 20 

English Grammar -----------3 30 

English History ...--------10 

English literature (including themes and writing from memory, &o.) - 2 40 
Educational essays, together with lectures, reading, and praxes on National 

School teaching .--- 12 

Arithmetic -..---------5 10 

Algebra 10 

Euclid 10 

Mensuration ...-.--.----10 

Natural and Experimental Philosophy -------0 40 

Lecture (subject not prescribed) --------10 

Writing 1 40 

Geography ..--.-------20 

Vocal Music 30 

Linear Drawing ---•- -....-20 

Preparation for lessons ----.----- 4 30 
Leisure -.---.--.---- 15 

During the last six months of the residence of each student, he practices 
the art of teaching in the model-school ; a week at a time being set apart 
for that occupation, according to a cycle prepared by the Principal, which 
brings back the teaching week of each, with an interval of about three 
weeks during the first quarter, and ofteuer if necessary during the last. 

The Institution provides all the books used by the students, whose price 
exceeds 3s, and the students contribute each 2s quarterly towards the 
purchase of them. 

On one of the days of my inspection, in the month of May, I found the 
students thus employed : — 

7 were engaged in carpentry. 

5 " cabinet-making. 

2 " brass-working and soldering. 

*8 '• book-binding 

2 " painting. 

2 '• graining. 

2 '• turning in wood. 

2 '• '' in metal. 

1 '' stone-cutting. 
4 " lithographing. 

2 ■' filing and chipping. 
2 " practical chemistry. 

2 " varnishing and map-mounting. 

2 " lithographical drawing. 

15 " gardening, excavating, and transporting earth. 

All the rough ground about the building has been levelled and brought 
into cultivation by them ; the principal class-rooms painted in imitation of 
oak and excellently grained ; they have made several articles of furniture 
and various school apparatus ; and many of the books in the school have 
been bound by them. 

It is not, however, with reference to the pecuniary value of the labors 
of the students that the Principal attaches importance to them, but with a 
view to their healthful character and their moral influence. They pursue 
their studies with the more energy, habits of indolence not having been 
allowed to grow upon them in their hours of relaxation, and their bodies 
being invigorated by moderate exercise ; and, inactivity being banished 
from the Institution, a thousand evils engendered of it are held in abeyance. 
When first admitted, they do not understand why bodily labor is required 
of them, and are desirous to devote all their time to reading ; they soon, 
however, acquiesce, and take a pleasure in it. 

By employing each student as far as possible in the pursuit to which he 

* All the students learn book-binding. 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 401 

lias been accustomed, his active co-operation is assured, because it is easy 
to him, and there is a pleasure associated with the exercise of his skill in 
it ; and he becomes, moreover, in respect to this pursuit, an instructor to 
others — in this vray, not less than by the marketable value of the results 
of his labor, contributing to the welfare of the Institution. 

The industrial occupations of the students receive the constant and 
active supervision of the Principal. He takes a lively interest in the 
labors of each — points out the scientific bearings of the craft he is exer- 
cising, sometimes suggests to him an improved manipulation of it, and 
combines and directs the whole to proper objects and to useful results. 
At the time of my second visit he had thus concentrated all the mechanical 
power of the Institution on the labors of the chapel. 

Nothing could be more lively and interesting than the scene presented 
by the grounds and workshops during the intervals of study. In one place 
the foundations of the structure were being dug out ; in another the stone 
was quarried. In the workshops I found carpenters, turners, carvers in 
oak, and blacksmiths, plying their several trades ; and, in a shed, a group 
of stone -cutters carving with great success, the arch-mouldings, mullions, 
and lights of a decorated window, under the direction of one of their 
number, to whom they were indebted fftr their knowledge of the art. A 
lively co-operation and a cheerful activity were everywhere apparent, and 
an object was obviously in the viev,^ of all, which ennobled their toil. 

The expense of medical attendance is provided for, by the students them- 
selves, who have a sick-club, to which each contributes 2s 6d every half- 
year. This payment is found sufficient, very little sickness having pre- 
vailed. 

The students wear a collegiate dress, consisting of a cap and gown like 
those worn in the Universities. It is the object of this regulation to pre- 
serve a uniformity of appearance amongst them whilst they are within 
the bounds of the Institution, and to distinguish them when without. 

The administration of the entire household department is intrusted to 
the steward, who provides the food and washing of the students, the board 
and wages of domestic servants, the house-linen, knives and forks, earthen- 
ware, kitchen utensils, &c., at a fixed charge in respect to each student, de- 
pendent for its amount on the number in residence. The Principal does 
not otherwise interfere with his department than in the exercise of an 
active and a constant supervision over it. 

A dietary has been prescribed, but it has been found wholly unnecessary 
to enforce it. An entire separation between the rooms occupied by the 
students and the household department has been carefully provided for in 
the construction of the building, and is strictly and effectually enforced. 

The Principal is charged with the administration of the discipline. It 
is enforced by impositions consequent on a breach of the rules.* The 
power of suspension rests with the Principal ; of expulsion with the Com- 
mittee of Management. 

A permanent record of all punishments is kept in a book provided for 
that purpose by the Scholar. 

The students who have left the Institution are accustomed to corres- 
pond with the Principal, and are invited at Christmas to dine with him. 
He is desirous, if it were practicable, to pay an annual visit to them. 
Inquiries are moreover made officially by the honorary secretary, from 
time to time, as to the way in which their duties are discharged, and the 
welfare of their schools. 

* The following may be taken as an example of these impositions. Five lines are required to 
be written out for every minute that a student is late in the morning. No imposition had been 
•enforced, except for this offence, between Christmas, 1843, and the period of my inspection iu 
May, 1844. 



402 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 



Commercial and Agricultural School. 
The system of education in the commercial and agricultural school com 
prises the following subjects : — 



English Composition. 

"Writing and Aritiinaetio. 

Book-keeping. 

Mensuration. 

Surveying and Engineering. 

Ancient and Modern History. 



Geography, Drawing and Music. 
The Elements of Natural Philosophy. 
Chemistry as applied to Agriculture, Horticul- 
ture, and the Arts. 
Latin and Greek. 
French and German. 



The terms, including board, lodging, and education, are, — for pupils 
above 12 years of age, £35 per annum; for pupils under 12 years of age, 
j£30 per annum. There are no extra charges. An entrance fee of £1 is 
required, and appropriated to the library and museum. 

Pupils are admitted to the commercial school between the ages of 8 
and 15 years. 

The utmost attention is paid to their health and comfort, the domestic 
arrangements being under the superintendence of an experienced matron. 
Each has a separate room and bed. There are two vacations in the year j 
that in the summer for five weeks, that in the winter for four weeks. 

Model ScJiool. 

The appointment of Master of the model-school, is filled up from among 
the best qualified of the students of the College. He resides within the 
walls of the Institution, but is not charged with any other duties than those 
connected with his school. He is assisted in the instruction of the children 
by the students who are in the last six months of their residence (according 
to a scheme adverted to in a preceding part of this Report), and by 
monitors. 

The children come, for the most part, from the neighboring city, their 
parents being commonly laborers of a superior class, or small shopkeepers. 
Having been present on one of the days of admission, which come round 
monthly, I can bear testimony to the earnest desire shown by the parents 
to secure for their children the superior instruction offered by the school. 
There were, at that time, between 20 and 30 applicants more than could 
be admitted, and the names of many of these had already been for some 
months on the list of candidates. 

The following are the rules of the school. The scale of payment will be 
remarked as a novel feature in them. It has been framed in the hope of 
keeping the children longer at school, by offering the premium of a reduc- 
tion of the fee dependent upon the child's standing, and has been found to 
work well. 

Rules of Model National School in the Training College^ Chester. 

If these Rules are not obeyed, the Master cannot allow Children to remain at the School. 

1 . Boys who are above seven years of age and of good health may be 
brought to the school. * 

2. Each boy must be in the school at nine o'clock in the morning, and 
at two o'clock in the afternoon, unless otherwise ordered by the Master. 

3. The children themselves, and their clothes, must be qxiite clean, their 
hair cut shorty and in every way they must be as neat as the parents or 
friends can make them. 

4. The 20 boys who have been longest in the school are free. 
The next 20 boys who have been longest in the 

school must each pay - - - Id per week. 

The third 20 boys who have been longest in the 

school must each pay - - - 2d " 

And the rest of the children - - - 3d " 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 



403 



5. On each Monday morning the pence for that week are to be brought, 
whether the child be at school or. not. 

6. Books, slates, paper, pens, ink, and pencils, &c., are found for the 
children without cost to the parents. 

7. Any injury wliich may be done to books, &c., by a child, must be made 
good by his parents or friends. 

8. If a boy be wanted at home, the master's leave must be asked before- 
hand by a parent or grown-up friend. 

9. When children are late, or absent without the master's leave, a note 
will be sent requiring a parent or grown-up friend to come to the school to 
tell why the child was late or absent ; and if it should ever be the case 
that, at different times during one half-year, three such notes have been 
sent about the same boy, he will on the next like offence be subject to 
degradation on the payment list, or dismissal from the school. 

10. Care will be taken that children are not ill-treated while in school. 
Should there be any just ground of complaint, the parent must speak to 
the Principal of the College, without going to the school-room. 

1 1 . Since more is reqixired than the labors of a schoolmaster in school, 
in order " that children may be virtuously brought up to lead a godly and 
a Christian life/' the parents or friends are desired, as they love the 
welfare of their children, to promote their education in every possible 
manner, — confirming at home, both by precept and example, those lessons 
of piety and morality, order and industry, the teaching of which are main 
objects of this Institution. 

In bringing under your Lordship's notice the conclusions to which I 
have been led by my inspection of this Institution, I cannot disguise from 
myself that, placed as it is in the immediate neighborhood of the vast 
population of Manchester and Liverpool, and destined to provide for the 
educational wants of a diocese, including within its limits the greatest 
manufacturing districts of the kingdom — districts than which no others are 
more remarkable for a dearth of elementary education,* and for the evils 
engendered of popular ignorance — it yields to no other similar institution 
in interest or importance. Neither does it yield to any other in the ad- 



* The following is an abstract of the statistical returns made by the deaneries of the diocese of 
Chester to the Diocesan Board of Education and published in its Report for 1842 : — 











Proportion 


Proportion 






Number of 




per Cent, to 


per Cent, to 






Children for 


Number of 


the Population 


the Popula- 


BOARD. 


Population. 


whom accom- 


Children in 


of those for 


tion of those 






modation is 


Attendance. 


whom accom- 


in Daily 






provided. 




m.odation is 
provided. 


Attendance. 


Chester. 


90,.341 


15,178 


4.300 


lOi 


4f 


Nantwich 


34.2:j7 


4,559 


1.120 


13.V 


3i 


Macclesfield 


1.34,702 


15,987 


3,350 


9i 


n 


Middlewich 


44.962 


6,844 


1.556 


15 


3S 


Frodsham. 


73.859 


9,597 


2,957 


125 


4 


Manchester 


550.178 


51,311 


10 043 


9i 


n 


Bolton 


149,108 


15,847 


2.695 


lOf 


ii 


Liverpool 


266.135 


24,038 


10,228 


8f 


35 


W igan 


141.858 


18.224 


4.147 


12* 


25 


Preston 


72.608 


15,517 


3.813 


21 i 


5i 


Lancaster 


34,033 


6,6.57 


1,581 


19i 


4f 


Blackburn 


156,793 


25,125 


4,140 


18i 


2i 


Chorley - 


50.815 


8,34.5 


1,759 


144 


3 


Ulverston 


25,760 


5,207 


1,621 


20i 


61 


Vv hitehaven - 


18,808 


6,890 


1,718 


36f 


9i 


Kendal - 


33,833 


7,149 
236,475 


1,581 


21i 
12i 


45 


Whole Diocese. 


1,884.082 


56,609 


3 



404 CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 

vantages of its situation, the imposing character and the magnitude of its 
structure, and the scale of its operations. It is the only building which 
has yet been erected expressly for the purposes of a training college, and in 
the adaptation of its plan internally for the uses of such a structure, not 
less than in the appropriate character of its external architecture, it may 
serve as a model for every other. 

The direct influence of the College on the education of the district, is 
that which it exercises through the schoolmasters whom it sends out. 
What this influence is likely to become, may be judged of from the fact 
that, of the 37 masters who had been so sent out up to February 1844, it 
has been ascertained in respect to 30, that the number of children in 
attendance upon their schools had increased in 13 months from 1428 to 
2469 : so that if every schoolmaster in the diocese could be replaced by 
one from this college, the number of children under instruction in it, would 
according to this rate of increase, double itself in little more than a year. 
The Bishop of Chester, who takes a deep interest in the success of the 
College, and extends to it a paternal care, thus speaks of it in his charge 
to the clergy of the diocese, at the triennial visitation of 1844 : 

" It may be objected, that education is no new thing ; that National 
schools have existed for a whole generation ; and that we have no right 
to look for a result in future which has not been produced already. 

" We have learnt, however, from past experience, that schools may exist, 
with very little of real education : very little of that culture which brings 
the mind into a new state, and prepares it for impressions of good which 
may be strong enough to resist temptation, and maintain a course of 
righteousness, sobriety, and godliness. That our schools have been useful 
as far as they have hitherto proceeded, it would be unreasonable to doubt ; 
that they are capable of becoming far more useful, it is impossible to deny. 
I believe that we have taken the right step, in applying ourselves to the 
education of masters as preparatory to the education of children. And I 
look to the Training College, now happily established at Chester, and able 
*to send forth its 30 masters annually, to supply the schools now building, 
and demanded by our increasing population, as one of the bright stars in 
our present prospect : one of the premises on which I found my hopeful 
calculations, for the people themselves readily appreciate the nature of the 
education offered them. After all, their indifference to education has hither- 
to been the chief cause of their want of education. Many of our national 
schools have languished for lack of scholars, in the midst of an illiterate 
population. When once it is perceived that schools are really telling upon 
the habits of the scholars — that the children through the effect of moral 
discipline are becoming orderly, obedient, and intelligent — the school fills 
as naturally as water rises in the channel when the spring receives a fresh 
supply. The 30 masters who first left our Training College found in their 
respective schools an aggregate of 1400 scholars. By the close of the first 
year the 1400 had swelled to 2400." 

It is not only by means of the schoolmasters educated within its walls 
that the Training College exercises an influence on the surrounding dis- 
trict, but indirectly also, by the interest which it adds to the subject of 
education among the clergy of the diocese — by the educational topics which 
come through its means under their discussion — and the new methods of 
instruction which it brings to their knowledge. The imposing character of 
its structure, also — the commanding scale of its operations, and the sanc- 
tion which the Bishop of the diocese lends to it, are not probably without 
their influence upon the springs of public opinion, or their practical bear- 
ing upon the interests of elementary education ; tending as they do to raise 
the character of the educator in the estimation not less of the lower than 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 405 

of the upper classes of society, and to awaken the public sympathies in his 
behalf. 

Nothing is more remarkable than the order and decorum which pervades 
the College, not less during the hours of relaxation than those of study, 
A duty appears to be prescribed for every moment, and every moment to 
find its active and useful employment. 

Entire silence prevails throughout the building during the hours of study ; 
the industrial pursuits of the students are characterized by the most per- 
fect decorum ; a routine is prescribed which regulates the order in which 
they assemble at prayers, and retire noiselessly to rest. All bespeaks a 
system rigidly enforced, and a high state of discipline. 

In a preceding part of this Report, 1 have spoken of the class of society 
from which the students are for the most part taken, and the circumstances 
under which they are supported in the Institution. From the laborious 
character of an elementary schoolmaster's life and its privations, it is im- 
probable that many persons would seek it, whose friends were in a position 
to pay for them an annual premium of £25, unless for some reason or 
other, they be disqualified for pursuing with success other avocations in 
life. 

In so far as the self-supporting character which is sought for this Insti- 
tution, and for others of the same class, is realized by the contributions of 
the relatives of the students themselves ; its tendency is, therefore, to lower 
the general standard of ability and qualification for the office of school- 
master ; affording facilities for introducing to that office persons unsuited to 
the discharge of its duties. For it is to be borne in mind, that precisely 
those qualities of mental and bodily activity, judgment, enterprise, and per- 
severance, which lead to advancement in every other pursuit in life, are 
necessary to the elementary schoolmaster, and that the man is disqualified 
for that office who is unfit for any other. 

[n recording my impression of the actual attainments of the students at 
the period of inspection, I must in the first place bear testimony to a re- 
markable disparity apparent not less in their acquired knowledge, than in 
their natural abilities and adaptation of character and manners to the ofBce 
they seek — a disparity which dates from the period of their admission. I 
have found amongst them men of powerful understanding and (speaking 
relatively) of cultivated minds ; and others whose limited attainments, 
made under circumstances of extraordinary difficulty and discouragement, 
have borne testimony to much natural intelligence, a persevering character. 
and formed habits of study.* There are, however, others who appear 
scarcely to possess the ability or the industry requisite to supply — as to the 
commonest elements of knowledge — -the deficiencies of a neglected educa- 
tion. It is too much to expect of the Institution, that, in the short period 
of their residence, itf should give to the latter class that apt| intelligence, 

* I find the following recorded among nay notes of a private interview with one of the students 
of the College. I insert it here in illustration of the above remark : — 

" was a cotton »pinner ; is an intelligent person ; possesses great Scriptural know- 
ledge, much general information in literature, and some acquaintance with algebra and geometry. 
Taught himself these things while spinning ; having a book fixed up and reading in the interval 
of the return of the jenny. Afterwards he availed himself of the mutual instruction classes 
established at the place of his residence by the clergymen. He came to the Institution at his own 
sxpense for the first three quarters — his maintenance for three other quarters was provided by 
subscription." Exhibitions covering the whole expenses of residence in the College, and thrown, 
in some degree, open to competition, would probably secure for the interests of education many 
men of a similar character. 

t The meantime of the residence of a student appears to be about one year and a half 

t In no respect are the deficiencies of these young men more apparent on their first entrance to 
the Institution than in the lack of a ready intelligence of those common elements of knowledge 
■which are placed before them in their simplest forms. They seem to have little or no power of 
»».losely applying their thoughts, or of fixed attention ; and it is long before they aie in a state to 
profit by study, or by oral instruction. Their first effort is to shake off this sluggish habit of 



406 CHESTER DIOCESAN THAINING COLLEGE. 

that power of exposition, and those resources of method and simplification 
which unite to form the accomplished educator. It is enough that it bring 
these men vxp to the standard of the existing masters of National schools— 
that it should raise them above it is not to be hoped. 

Whilst the addition of men of this class to the number of elementary 
schoolmasters is not the legitin\p,te function of a training institution, and 
can contribute nothing to the interests of that cause which it is established 
to promote, it cannot fail to disappoint the hopes of these persons them- 
selves. The standard of elementary education is rising so rapidly, and the 
number of efficient educators so fast increasing, that already those of infe- 
rior skill, find great difficulty in obtaining employment. 

Their knowledge of geography includes many of the simpler elements of 
that science known as physical geography, which treats of the general con- 
formation of the earth's surface in connexion with the climates of different 
regions, their vegetable and animal productions, and the races of men who 
inhabit them. Viewed in this light, geography is a science which may, in 
the hands of a skilful instructor, be made the vehicle of much general 
knowledge of that kind wliich is most likely to awaken in the minds of 
children a curiosity to know more, and cultivate a habit of self-instruction ; 
and he will not fail to avail himself of it, to bring the resources of his 
lending library to the aid of his lessons, and thus to establish in the child's 
mind a link between the mechanical ability to read and a pleasure deriv- 
able from reading. 

It is a novel feature of the Institution that it includes natural history in 
its course of instruction. I look forward with great interest to the pro- 
gress of this branch of knowledge, than which none is more humanizing in 
its influence upon the mind, or more healthful in the pursuit. The scene 
of a village-schoolmaster's life appears well adapted for the study of it, 
and followed, as it were, in the constant and manifest presence of Divine 
wisdom and goodness, it is eminently of a devotional tendency. It is to the 
able and well-directed labors of the Vice-Principal that the Institution 
owes those two characteristic and distinguished features of its course of 
instruction to which I have last adverted. 

The science of mechanics is taught with much care, and particularly 
that simple form of it which treats of the work of mechanical agents. It 
has been introduced successfully into their schools by some of the students 
who have left the College. By a manufacturing population it cannot fail 
to be appreciated, admitting as it does of a useful application to their daily 
pursuits, and possessing a marketable value. It is a characteristic of ele- 
mentary education such as this, that being allied to that which is to form 
the future occupation of the life of the child, it will not be cast away with 
his school-books, but when he becomes a man will be suggested again to 
his mind by things constantly occurring under his observation. Some scat- 
tered rays of knowledge being thus made to fall on the scene of his daily 
toil, his craft will assume something of the character of a science, and he 
will rise in the scale of intelligent beings by the mechanical exercise of his 
calling. 

Like St. Mark's College, the Chester Diocesan Training College has 
grown up under the hands of its Principal. It has been framed from its 
commencement upon his views, and has received in many respects an im- 
pression from his character. This Report would be incomplete did it not 
bear testimony to his many and admirable qualifications for the office in- 

mind ; and muoli of the valuable time allotted to them in the Institution is often expended before 
that effort is successful. Thus their progress during the latter part of their career is far greater 
than at first, and they sometimes leave wheo the real education of their minds is but just 
beginning. 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAlNINa COLLEGE. 



407 



trusted to hira ; and I cannot but look upon it as an event of no little im- 
portance to the interests of education, that his services have been secured 
in its cause. 

The following passages are taken from the Report of Mr. Mosely, for 1 845 : 

According to the census of 1841, the diocese of Chester contained, in 
that year, in the counties of Chester and Lancaster^ a population of 2,062^- 
364, of which number 236,126 were males, and 234,929 females, between 
the ages of 5 and 15, or 3 arid 13, — that is of an age to go to school. 

Admitting that each adult teacher is capable of instructing 60 children, 
7,850 such teachers would be required for the instruction of the children of 
these two counties. In which number — supposing none of them to be less 
than 25 years of age, and to become incapacitated for their duties at 65 — 
117 will die annually, and 105 will be superannuated. So that from these 
two causes 222 vacancies will occur annually. 

Assuming that 7 per cent, of this number are private teachers, there 
will remain 206 vacancies to be provided for among the teachers of public 
elementary schools, i. e., 103 masters, and the same number of mistresses. 

My experience in the inspection of training colleges leads me to the 
conclusion that the persons who' seek them are not generally possessed of 
such previous instruction as would reader a period of less than two years 
adequate to qualify them for the office of the elementary schoolmaster. 

The training schools for masters in this diocese alone should, therefore, 
with reference to a really efficient state of the elementary education of the 
country, give instruction constantly to 206 students. 

The present number of students in the Chester Diocesan College, is 40. 
It affords accommodation for 100. The part of it otherwise unoccupied, 
giving space to a commercial school, which at present consists of 30 boy.s. 

The task of instructing the senior students devolves entirely upon the 
Principal and the Vice-principal ; they are, however, assisted in their 
labors in the commercial and model schools by two of the students, whose 
course of instruction has been completed. This constitutes the entire staff 
of officers. 

The fee for admission is 25/. annually; 16 exhibitions of 121. 10s. each, 
however, reduce the fee, in respect to the like number of students, by one-half. 

Seven hours a day are devoted to study in the class-rooms. If hours to 
industrial pursuits, 2i hours in winter, and 4 in summer, to private study 
and exercise. 

The subjects of instruction, include R.eligious knowledge, Engli-sh litera- 
ture. Science, and the Art of teaching. Ten hours and one-third in each 
week, are devoted to the first, 21 hours to the second. 9 hours to the third, 
and 1 2 hours to the fourth. The students occupy 4i hours in the prepa- 
ration of lessons, and they have, every week, 15 hours' leisure. 

The rest of their time is given to industrial occupations. These consti- 
tute an integral part of the course of instruction, received as systematically 
as any other, and under a greater variety of forms, and with more success 
than in any similar institution with which I am acquainted. 

Nothing can be more animated and interesting than the scene which 
presents itself to the stranger who visits the institution during the hours 
when these occupations are going on. 

Every student is seen plying some useful handicraft — either that which 
was the means of his previous livelihood, or one taken up since he has 
been in the institution — and wherever the eye rests, some new form of 
useful instruction in the mechanical arts suggests itself to the mind.* 

* On the day of my inspection I found the students thus distributed : — There were 5 carpenters, 
2 turners in wood, 4 in iron, 2 painters, 2 blaclcsmiths, 3 glass-stainers, 4 lithographers, 3 carvers, 
6 bookbinders, 2 students were varnishing maps, 1 was working a circular saw, 6 were occupied 
in excavating and transport of earth, and there was 1 gardener. 

26 



408 CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 

Tlieve can be no doubt of the admirable adaptation of a system Ihco 
this to the education of masters for Industrial Schools ; and the question 
how far it may be practicable and expedient to maintain such schools is 
pressed more and more, every day, upon the attention of the friends of the 
laboring classes, by the encroachments \Yhich labor is making upon that 
part of a poor child's life, which has hitherto been left for its education. 
Any plan would be likely to receive the confidence of the poor, combining 
instruction iji useful learning, with some employment, which, whilst it 
served, by a trifling remuneration, to diminish the sacrifice they make in 
not sending their children to work, would be an obvious preparation for the 
life of labor in reserve for them. 

It is not, perhaps, without a show of reason, that they are accustomed 
to fear, lest by too long a continuance at school, and by the influence of 
too much book learning, their children should be led to shrink from that 
self-denial of bodily toil, and should fail of those habits of steady industry, 
which are proper to their state of life. To talk to them of the moral 
advantages of instruction, of the elevating and ennobling tendencies of 
knowledge, of the social virtues which follow in its train, and of its influ- 
ence in the formation of religious character, and, through that character, 
upon the future and eternal welfare of a responsible being, is to seek to 
impress their minds with truths of which, alas, they have no experience. 
Engaged themselves in a perpetual struggle with the physical difliculties 
of existence — too often increased by their own improvidence — when they 
look to the future welfare of their childi-en, they have no other thought 
present to their minds than the remuneration of their labor. And, a,fter 
all, if we would serve them effectually, and with that view, if we would 
secure their active concurrence in our efforts, we must, in some degree, 
meet their own views as to what is best for their children, and take them 
as they are, with all their ignorance, and their prejudices about them. 
Our success will be the greatest when we do the least violence to these 
prejudices ; and they do not debar us from a v/ide field of labor for their 
advantage. 

In giving to its students a practical knowledge of the pursuits of the 
laboring classes, this institution places them on vantage ground. It helps 
to fill up that chasm which separates the educated from the uneducated 
mind, and too often interdicts all sympathy between the school-master and 
the parents of the children intrusted to his charge. 

So long as the domestic and inner life of the classes below us in the 
social scale — the whole world of those thoughts and feelings in which their 
children are interested — remain hidden from us, our efforts for their 
Avelfare, devised in ignorance, will, in a great measure, fail of their object. 
He who would explore this region close at our doors, and bring back to us 
tidings of it. would have a tale to tell as strange as of an undiscovered 
country, and far more important. 

According to that theory of a school-master which these considerations 
would seem to suggest, his education, far from separating the link which 
unites him to the classes out of which he is taken, should strengthen it. 
His sympathies are to be with his own people. He is to take a lively 
interest in their pursuits. The scene of their daily toil is to be familiar 
to him. Those ideas associated with their craft, which include, within 
such narrow limits, the whole of their acquired knowledge — and the terms 
of their art, however technical — he is to be conversant with. Their 
intelligence is limited to the narrow circle which contains their daily 
bread. He is to enter that circle. The love of intellectual pursuits, per- 
haps never extinguished in the mind of man, loses its vivacity side by side 
with the pressing wants of animal life. He is to reawaken it. Out of 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TIIA1XI:XG COLLEGE. 409 

the friendly relations and generous sympathies which result from an inter- 
course such as this, he is to build up a superstructure of mutual confidence 
and good will, and to dedicate the ascendency he thus acquires over the 
parent, to the welfare of the child. He is to reawaken in the bosom of the 
laboring man those natural sympathies which seem — under the influence 
of the manufacturing system — to be fast dying away, and to impel him to 
sacrifices in behalf of his child ; to impress him with a deep sense of the 
rcvsponsibility under which he lies in the matter of its spiritual and eternal 
welfare, and to direct him as to the best means of promotiong it. It is not 
in any unreal character that he is thus to appear on his hearth, or with any 
Jesuitical project of circumventing him for the advantage of his child ; but 
simply that, taken from his own order, he is not to separate the link 
which unites him to that order; that, by both parentage and education, 
associated Avith the laboring classes, he is not to divest himself of those 
important advantages for fulfilling the duties of his mission, which that 
association supplies. With this view, neither in his dress, nor in his man- 
ners, nor in his forms of speech, is he to assume a distinctive or separated 
character, otherwise than as it regards that greater moral restraint, that 
gravity of speech, and sobriety of demeanor, which it would become the 
laboriug man himself to cultivate. 

This theory of a school-master is diametrically opposed to that on which 
the system of every other training college with which I am acquainted, is 
founded. The tendency of every other is elevating. This would repress 
those aspirations which are natural to the ncAV condition of his intellectual 
being on which the student has entered, and which are usually associated 
with the office he seeks, and it would tether him fast to that state of life 
from which he started. 

Notliing can be more just than that estimate of the moral necessities of 
the laboring man, which is its basis. Above all other things, that man 
wants a friend set free from the influences under v/hich he is himself fast 
sinking — a friend, if it were possible, not divided from him by that wide 
interval which a few conventional distinctions are sufficient to interpose — 
to advise him, if not in the matter of his own welfare, in that of his 
children. 

It is. however, a theory which in practice would not be without its perils. 
So close an approximation to the class below him, would have a tendency 
to separate the school-master from the class which is above him, — that 
class in which all his better and higher impulses will find their chief stay 
and support, and where alone he can, as yet, look for a cordial sympathy. 
That ascendency which education gives him over the minds of his ordinary 
associates, will tend to foster an independence of spirit inconsistent, perhaps, 
with the relation in which he must of necessity stand to the patrons and 
promoters of his school : and above all he will be the less likely to preserve 
those intimate and friendly relations with the clergyman, which are not 
less important to the spiritual welfare of the parish school and the parish, 
than to the personal comfort, and the self-respect of the school-master. 

I have every where found a disposition on the part of the clergy to 
extend a friendly sympathy to the labors of the school-master, and I believe 
that they very generally rejoice in the opportunity which the superior 
education of the training colleges afibrds to them, of stretching out to him 
the right hand of Christian fellowship. Asperity of manners, an inde- 
pendent bearing, and a rude deportment, would repel these kindly feelings. 
On the other hand, it may be questioned whether the opinion that the 
co-operation of the laboring classes in the work of the schoolmaster is to 
be gained by a closer appi-o.vimation to themselves in his modes of thought 
and his way of life, is founded on correct estimate of the springs of public 



4]0 CHESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING COLLEGE. 

opinion amongst tliem, and whether some separation and the interposition of 
a few conventional distinctions do not serve to give weight to his counsels, 
and enhance the estimate formed of the value of his labors. 

My own opinion is that a sincere and earnest interest in the welfare of 
their children, shown by a labor of industry and love, will overpower 
every other consideration in the minds of the poor, and that however great 
may be the advantage which a close association with them, and an intimate 
knowledge of their condition, give to the school-master, it will, in general, 
be dearly purchased by a conformity with their habits of life and modes of 
thought and action. It is an ixitercourse in which, whatever they may gain 
he will probably lose. 

That state of things in which a breach between the class of elementary 
school-masters and the clergy shall have become wide and general, cannot 
be contemplated otherwise than with unmingled apprehension. The 
ascendency which education gives to them amongst the uneducated masses 
— ministering lo their characteristic independence of spirit, their profes- 
sional pride and their ambition — might, in such a case, prove a temptation 
and a snare too great for them to withstand, and by a slow but irresistible 
process, convert them into active emissaries of misrule. 

With reference to the industrial pursuits which have suggested these 
remarks, it appears to nae worthy of consideration whether in this institu- 
tion they may not have acquired an ascendency which is not without its 
unfavorable influence on the literary pursuits of the place, and whether 
too large a sacrifice of healthful recreation is not made when, in fine 
weather, the students pass from their class-rooms into the workshops, 
instead of into the open air. 

Of the whole number of students, I find that 18 spell incorrectly, 12 
read and 8 write imperfectly ; 1 0, upon the evidence of the exercises they 
have sent in, may be characterized as illiterate; 10 others have afforded 
in their exei-cises the evidence of a considerable an^ount of general literary 
attainment and mental culture ; 20 write beautifully ; 9 have acquitted 
themselves well in Scriptural knowledge, and the same number in Church 
History and the Liturgy ; 4 in their answers to the questions on the Art of 
Teaching; 20 in Arithmetic, and some of these admirably ; 5 in Natural 
Philosophy; 18 in Mechanics and Astronomy; 12 in Geography; 9 in 
English History; 45 in Algebra. 

At my previous examinations I have been struck by the remarkable 
disparity wliich presents itself in this institution as to the general ability 
and acquired knowledge of the students. I have found among them .some 
of vigorous intellect and of considerable attainments, and others whose 
defects of previous education and want of the natural endowments proper 
to an elementary teacher will not, I fear, be remedied by a residence 
however long continued.- 

If a sufficient number of candidates presented themselves for admission, 
to allow a selection from amongst them of those who are really qualified, 
this source of embarrassment might be removed. Such a num.ber of can- 
didates would, I doubt not, be found, if the obstacle which the fee presents 
to their admission could be overcome. At Battersea Training College the 
expedient has been adopted of lending to an eligible student that portion 
of his fee which is not covered by an exhibition ; and the number of such 
exhibitions has been augmented by subscriptions to a fund specially devoted 
to that object. 

It is, liowever, in my opinion, worthy of grave consideration whether 
the expenditure of the public money for educational purposes would not be 
greatly economised by the foundation of Government exhibitions in the 
training colleges. 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TKACNING COLLEGE. 41 J 

The office of the school-master does not offer to a man desirous to pro- 
vide for his children, and in a position to pay an annual fee of 25/., adequate 
advantages, either in respect to the remuneration attached to it or its social 
position. If, indeed, a shopkeeper, a warehouseman, a small manufacturer, 
or a farmer well to do in the world, have one child, who, by reason of a 
feebleness of character, or of bodily health, or perhaps of intellect, may 
be considered unequal to a more active and enterprising career in life, the 
training college will perhaps be sought as an asylum for him. Straitened 
as are these institutions (especially the Diocesan Colleges) in their resour- 
ces, it is not easy to refuse a candidate who is thus prepared to pay the 
whole fee for admission. At the expiration of his course of instruction 
the qualifications of a student received under these circumstances, not- 
withstanding ail the labor which may have been bestowed upon his 
instruction, will scarcely be found such as would obtain for him the public 
confidence, were it not for the guarantee which his residence in the training 
college has supplied. And so, after all, the public money will have been 
expended, and the public sympathies exhausted, not in raising the standard 
of intelligence in tiie existing body of school-masters, but at best in bring- 
ing up to the existing standard, men who would not otherwise have 
reached it. 

I have brought out this evil, perhaps, beyond its just proportions; but 
it has been in the hope of fixing your Lordsliips' attention upon it, and 
with a view to its remedy. I have reason to know that it is operating in 
the training institutions as a great evil, and. I believe, that, if they fail of 
their results and disappoint the public expectation, this will lie at the root 
of the matter. It would be quite possible, if this fee were dispensed with, 
through the agency of the Inspectors, to fill the training colleges with men 
— in their qualifications for admission — very far indeed above the general 
standard of those who are now found in them. Were tlie question, whether 
from such a class of persons a body of efficient educators could be formed, 
wholly problematical as to its results, having such an object in view, it 
would surely be worthy a large expenditure of the public money to bring 
it to the test of an experiment. But it is not difficult to show that a 
really eligible candidate becomes, when admitted a student in our best 
training colleges, by a process in wliich there are very few instances of 
failure, a school-master capable of realizing all that we hope from him. 
Considering that the faith of the public in education hangs upon the fruit 
of these colleges, not less than the success of each individual school-master 
in the sphere of action particularly assigned to him, it would be folly to 
measure the services of such a man for the public welfare by the 40Z. 
or 50/. of the public money which may have been expended in educating him. 

My Report to your Lordships on this institution would not convey to you 
a just impression of it, did it not bear testimony to the very arduous char- 
acter of the labors of the two gentlemen — the Principal and the Vice- 
Principal — on whom the entire management of it devolves. Besides that 
general supervision which the Principal exercises over it in all its depart- 
ments, its whole correspondence is intrusted to him, and he takes an active 
part in the teaching of the students, not only during the hours devoted to 
study, but whilst they are engaged in their industrial occupations. If to 
these, his ordinary labors, be added those with which for the last two years 
he has been charged in superintending the building operations which have 
been going on at the model school-room and the chapel, it will, I think, be 
felt that claims are made upon his services which are incompatible with 
his own health and with the best interests of the institution. 

The Model School. — The second week of my inspection I devoted to an 
examination of the model school. 



412 



CHESTER DIOCESAN TKAIXING COLLEGE. 



One hundred and sixty-three boys were present on the day of my exam- 
ination. These children, like those of every other model school which I 
have visited, appear to belong to a grade in society removed a little above 
that from which the children who usually attend National Schools are 
drawn. They attend Avith remarkable regularity, the average number of 
absentees during a period of six months, except by reason of sickness or 
Avith leave, being only one daily. 

I have appended in this Report* a statement on this subject, which I 
have read with great interest. 

The school is held in high and well deserA-ed estimation by the parents, 
and it is obAaous that under the influence of that estiiiiation, they are 
prepared to make those sacrifices of the occasional services of their chil- 
dren, lest they should lose their learning, which in other schools they will 
not make. The irregularity of the attendance of the children of National 
Schools, I find to be every where alleged as an obstacle faial to all the 
hopes of education. Here that obstacle is removed. 

I have appended to tins Report a copy of the note Avhicb is addressed to 
the parents of a child absent without leave. This note forms one part of 
the page of a book, resembling a cheque book, from which it is torn ; a 
record of the notice being preserved on the other part. The arrangement 
is exceedin;ily convenient in practice, and might be introduced generally 
in National Schools AAdth advantage. f 

The discipline is admirable, it is maintained apparently with great ease, 
and affords the evidence of a subordination, influenced by moral causes, 





* MODEL SCHOOL.- 


-ATTENDANCE. 






From January 1.3th to Jniie SGth. (A. D. 1845.) 




Present. Sick. 

H,53-2 &S4 
120 7 


Leave. 

508 
4 


Lati!. 

58 


Ab.=;ent. 

197 
1 


Total. 

16,011 
139 


Total - 
Daily Average 


- 


From July 23th to November 7th. 


Total - 
Daily Average 


- 


10.214 297 
139 4 


479 
6 


271 127 
-1 ' 


11,141 
150 



From 2nd May, 1845, to 2Gth August, 1845 — 84 School days ; during this time there were 151 

Notes sent — for boys being late 38, and absent 113 
Excuses for being — 

Late — Domestic arrangements bad, 20.— Errands, 10. — Idlers, 8. 

Absent — Wanted by parents, 50. — At home, no reason given, 9. — Sick, 25 — No shoes, 4. — 
Truants, 3. — Domestic arrangements bad, 3. — Miscellaneous, 11. — Left, S. 



tNo.. 



Chester, 



,nd lot-i 
' of boy ) "»S 



184 



number of boy ) " »S ( , 
Last day for ans-wer_ 

No. of boy sent 

When answered 

Reasons given 



No. Chester, 184 

has been late 

or absent this morning, or this afternoon, without leave, 
from the National School in the Training College. 

RULE. 
A parent or grown-up friend must come, or send a 
note, to the School, to tell why the boy was late or ab- 
sent, on or before next, or we shall con- 
sider that he has left the school. 

. Mastbr. 



CHESTEIl DIOCESAN TIUINIXG COLLEGE. 4^3 

and cheerfully yielded. So far as this is apparent in the order and regu- 
larity of the school, it is greatly promoted by the school songs which 
accompany all tlie changes of the classes, and which the children sing as 
they assemble and when they leave. 

The singing is the more remarkable, as its character is maintained ap- 
parently with very little effort, and the sacrifice of very little time. 

Accustomed to oral instruction on the gallery, the children exhibit great 
power of attention, much quickness of apprehension, and greater resources 
of language than I ain accustomed to find in schools of this class. They 
appear to be interested in what they are taught, to appreciate the value of 
learning, and to take a pleasure in it. That listlessness of manner and 
dreaminess so intimately associated in the mind of an inspector with the 
aspect of an elementary school, had certainly no place here on the days of 
my inspection. The children not less than their teachers, seemed to be in 
earnest in the business of the school, and the fervor and vivacity apparent 
on the one part, is at least commensurate with the zeal and ability exhibi- 
ted on the other. 

So far as this school, taught exclusively by the students of the college, 
may be taken as affording direct evidence of the skill they attain in the 
art of teaching, no other than a favorable estimate can be formed of it. 
The notes in which I have recorded the impressions which I derived from 
the opportunity afforded me of being present at a lesson delivered by each 
student, do not however bear an unqualified testimony to this fact. 

Amongst them were some excellent teachers, earnest, vigorous, well 
instructed, and efficient, but there were others, v.'anting not only in the pe- 
culiar and professional qualifica,tions of a teacher, but themselves very 
imperfectly educated. If I might be allowed a general criticism, it would 
be that the students whom I saw teach were not acquainted to the extent 
that might have been expected with the best methods of simplifying the 
primary elements of instruction. I doubt whether these had ever been 
made the subject of study Avith them. There was no evidence of any in- 
dependent power to present the knowledge they themselves possessed under 
that form in which it is best adapted to the intelligence of children, or of 
any systematic instruction directed to that object, or indeed of any due 
appreciation of its importance to the success of elementary instruction. 



NORMAL SCHOOLS 

FOR THE 

TRAINING OF FEMALE TEACHERS IN ENGLAND. 



Besides the Normal School of the Home and Colonial Infant and 
Juvenile School Society already described, which is mainly devoted to 
the training of female teachers for a class of schools for which females 
are pre-eminently fitted by nature, there was established, in 1842, at 
Whiteland, Chelsea, by the National Society, an " Institution for the 
Training of Schoolmistresses." Since its establishment 93 pupils have 
been sent out as teachers, of which number 82 were in charge of schools 
in 1848. It has already been instrumental, in the opinion of Her Majesty's 
Inspector of Schools, Rev. F. Watkins, in reai:ing the standard of attain- 
ments of the schoolmistresses, and elevating their social position. The 
course of instruction, as presented in his Report to the Committee of 
Council on Education for 1848, extends through two years, but does not 
embrace any peculiar features as to subjects or methods, except as to 
the industrial employment of the pupils. In the printed Regulations for 
the admission of pupils, it is said: 

" Their attention will not be confined to the studies of the school-room. 
Whatever skill or knowledge may be of use in a poor man's familj'-, either 
to increase the comforts of his fireside, to assist in bringing up his children, 
or to prepare his daughters to gain, in whatever capacity, a respectable 
livelihood, this will be diUgently imparted. For this purpcse they are care- 
fully instructed in the art of plain needlework, knitting, marking, darning, &c. 
To give them practice and experience in this iepartmeni, they are expected to 
cut out and make up the various articles of clothing secured to the poor chil- 
dren of the schools by their clothing clubs. The pupils are also required to cut 
out and make up their own clothes, as well as to undertake all other plain nee- 
dlework which may be sent to the Institution. The teachers are practiced in 
the art of setting needlework for children, by preparing the work for the difler- 
ent classes in the school. The pupils have also been in the habit of making 
themselves useful in the laundry." 

The Inspector makes the following remarks on the previous education 
of some of the pupil teachers of the institution. 

" It must be said, that some of them are exceedingly ignorant, being unable 
to work the four simple rules of arithmetic correctly, possessing little knowl- 
edge either of the Old or New Testament, altogether unskilled in geography, 
grammar, or English history, and utterly unable to spell words of the most com- 
mon occurrence. It is hardly necessary to say, that this slate of ignorance is 
not owing to any want of sufficient instruction in the training school, but to the 
deplorable neglect of sound elementary education in the families of those who 
are raised a little above the poorest class. It is from these families that the 
majority, I am told, of the young women in training are drawn. They have 
been educated, (if it be not misusing the term,) at ' private boarding-schools.' 
A little external dressing has been given to them, but rarely any internal cul- 
ture. They have been taught some fancy needlework, and to write in a run- 
ning hand; they can read fluently, but not with expression; they have learned 
by heart passages of Holy Scripture, a few hymns, and other pieces of poetry, 
put have seldom been directed to their meaning. On such material it is diffi- 



416 NORMAL SCHOOLS FOR FEMALE TEACHERS.IN ENGLAND. 

cult for the most skillful teacher of a training school to work with any effect 
She must carefully pull down before she begin to build up any structure on 
such an unsteady foundation ; she must, indeed, lay a new I'oundation on dif 
ferent principles, and with a careful hand. It is, therefore, hardly fair to expect 
great results from the examination of pupils in the training colleges for mis- 
tresses, until they shall have received a more sound elementary education, and 
a longer period of training than two years shall have been allotted to them." 

There exists also at Salisbury a similar seminary, styled the " Salis- 
bury Diocesan Institute for the Training of Schoolmistresses." The 
institution was opened in 1841, and has been since maintained by dona- 
tions and subscriptions to the amount of about £500 a year, for the pur- 
pose of providing a sufficient supply of " well-educated, right-minded, and 
thoroughly-trained young women for the schools of the diocese." Up to 
1848, only 68 had left the institation to take schools. The following ex- 
tract touches a most important point of inquiry before admitting pupils 
to a Normal School — and especially female pupils. In the Eighth Re- 
port of the Diocesan Board of Education, it is stated : 

" Since the beginning of 1846 two of the pupils died, and five have shown 
such symptoms of weak constitutions as to give no reasonable hope that they 
can ever undertake the anxious and trying duties of schoolmistresses. The 
Committee are very earnest in pressing this point upon the consciences of those 
who give or sign certificates with too much facility; and they say most truly, 
that, though it is not an uncommon opinion that the work of a schoolmistress 
may be undertaken by those whose constitution unfits them for other more ac- 
tive employments, the truth is, that the drain upon the constitution and spirits 
of a schoolmistress is very great, and none but those whose lungs are quite 
healthy, and whose constitution is in all respects good, can discharge its duties 
with any comfort, or for any length of time." 

The Inspector, in the Report of his visit to the school in 1848, observes : 

" It appears to me, that at present the domestic employments of the pupils, 
if not too much of a servile, are too little of an inslrucUve, economical charac- 
ter. It is said, and doubtless ^vith great truth, that occasional employment in 
even such works as scrubbing, cleaning shoes, &c., has a beneficial tendency 
in correcting faults of vanity, indolence, &c., and in giving a practical lesson 
of humility ; and I should be far from wishing to abolish it. Indeed, I hold 
it to be of great importance to employ the pupils in works that tend to increase 
their sympathy with the poor. But surely it is of not less importance that 
young women intended for a really liberal profession should have ample oppor- 
tunities of learning the cost of materials, the best and cheapest modes of pre- 
paring them, and the comparative expense of various modes of housekeeping; 
and so of acquiring experience which will be available to them, both in the 
management of their own affairs, and in conversing with the parents of their 
pupils, who will be glad to consult them if they find them practical guides. 
With well-arranged offices, under the superintendence of the mistress or a good 
assistant, the elder girls might profitably devote some portion of their time to 
these matters, and might connect them with their studies, both by composing 
essays on subjects of domestic economy, and by keeping the accounts of the 
establishment upon the most approved system." 



SCOTLAND, 



The parochial schools of Scolland have been the pride of her own peo- 
ple and the admiration of enlightened men in all countries. The founda- 
tions of the system were laid in 1494. In that year it was enacted by 
the Scotch Parliament, that all barons and substantial freeholders 
throughout the realm should send their children to school from the age 
of six to nine years, and then to other seminaries to be instructed in the 
laws ; that the country might be possessed of persons properly qualified 
to discharge the duties of sheriffs, and to fill other civil offices. Those 
who neglected to comply with the provisions of this statute were sub- 
jected to a penalty of £20. In 1560, John Knox and his compeers hold 
the following memorable language, in the " First Book of Discipline," pre- 
sented to the nobility. 

" Seeing that God has determined that his kirk here on earth shall be taught, 
not by angels, but by men ; and seeing that men are born ignorant of God and 
of godliness ; and seeing, also, that he ceaseth to illuminate men miraculously, 
of necessity it is, that your honors be most careful for the virtuous education 
and godl}' up-bringing of the youth of this realm. For as they must succeed to 
us, so we ought to be careful that they have knowledge, and erudition to profit 
and comfort that which ought to be most dear to us, to wit, the kirk and 
spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of necessity, therefore, we judge it, that 
every several kirk have one schoolmaster appointed ; such an one, at least, as 
is able to teach grammar and the Latin tongue, if the town be of any reputation. 
And further, we think it expedient, that in every notable town, there should be 
erected a colkge, in which the arts at least of rhetoric and logic, together with 
the tongues, be read by sufficient masters, for whom honest stipends must be 
appointed; as also that provision be made for those that are poor, and not able 
by themselves or their friends, to be sustained at letters. 

The rich and potent may not be permitted to suffer their children to spend 
their youth in a vain idleness, as heretofore they have done ; but they must be 
exhorted, and, by the censure of the kirk, compelled to dedicate their sons by good 
exercises to the profit of the kirk, and commonwealth ; and this they must do, 
because they are able. The children of the poor must be supported and sus- 
tained on the charge of the kirk, trial being taken whether the spirit of docility 
be in them found, or not. If they be foimd apt to learning and letters, then may 
they not be permitted to reject learning, but must be charged to continue their 
study, so that the commonwealth may have some comfort by them ; and for this 
purpose, must discreet, grave, and learned men be appointed to visit schools, for 
the trial of their exercise, profit, and continuance ; to wit, the ministers and 
elders, with the best learned men in every town. A certain time must be ap- 
pointed to reading and learning the catechism, and a certain time to grammar 
and to the Latin tongue, and a certain time to the arts of philosophy and the 
other tongues, and a certain time to that study in which they intend chiefly to 



418 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. 

travel for the profit of the commonwealth; which time being expired, the chil- 
dren should either proceed to further knowledge, or else they must be set to 
some handicraft, or to some other profitable exercise." 

In 1615, an act of the Privy Council of Scotland empowered the bish- 
ops, along with the majority of the landlords or heritors, to establish a 
school in every parish in their respective dioceses, and to assess the 
lands for that purpose. This act of the privy council was confirmed by 
an act of the Scotch Parliament, in 1633 ; and under its authority, schools 
were established in the lower and the more cultivated districts of the 
country. But the system was still far from being complete ; and the 
means of obtaining elementary instruction continued so very deficient, 
that it became necessary to make a more complete and certain provision 
for the establishment of schools. This was done by the famous act of 
1696, the preamble of which states, that " Our Sovereign Lord, consider- 
ing how prejudicial the want of schools in many places has been, and how 
beneficial the establishing and settling thereof will be to this church and 
kingdom, therefore, his Majesty, with advice and consent, &c." The act 
went on to order, that a school be established, and a schoolmaster ap- 
pointed in every parish ; and it further ordered that the landlords should 
be obliged to build a school-house, and a dwelling-house for the use of 
the master ; and that they should pay him a salary, exclusive of the 
fees of his scholars ; which should not fall short of 5/. lis. Id. a year, nor 
exceed 111. 2s. 2d. The power of nominating and appointing the school- 
master was vested in the landlords and the minister of the parish; and 
they were also invested with the power of fixing the fees to be paid him 
by the scholars. The general supervision of the schools was vested in 
the presbyteries in which they are respectively situated ; who have also 
the power of censuring, suspending, and dismissing the masters, without 
their sentence being subject to the review of any other tribunal. 

It has been usually expected that a Scotch parish schoolmaster, be- 
sides being a person of unexceptionable character, should be able to in- 
struct his pupils in the reading of English, in the arts of writing and 
arithmetic, the more common and useful branches of practical mathematics, 
and that he should be possessed of such classical attainments as might 
qualify him for teaching Latin and the rudiments of Greek. 

It would be no easy matter to exaggerate the beneficial effects of the 
elementary instruction obtained at parish schools, on the habits and indus- 
try of the people of Scotland. It has given to that part of the empire an 
importance to which it has no claim, either from fertility of soil or amount 
of population. The universal diflTusion of schools, and the consequent 
education of the people, have opened to all classes paths to wealth, honor 
and distinction. Persons of the humblest origin have raised themselves 
to the highest eminence in every walk of ambition, and a spirit of fore- 
thought and energy, has been widely disseminated. 

At the period when the act of 1696 was passed, Scotland, which had 
Buffered greatly from misgovernment and religious persecutions under the 
reigns of Charles II. and his brother, James II., was in the most unprosper- 



ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. 4^9 

ous condition. There is a passage in one of the discourses of the cele- 
brated Scotch patriot, Fletcher of Saltoun, written in 1698, only two 
years after the act for the establishment of parochial schools had been 
passed, that sets the wretched state of the country in the most striking 
point of view. 

" There are, at this day in Scotland, besides a great many families very 
meanly provided for by the church boxes, with others who, by jiving upon bad 
food, fall into various diseases, two hundred thousand people begging from door 
to door. These are not only no way advantageous, but a very grievous burden 
to so poor a country. And although the number of them be, perhaps, double to 
what it was formerly, by reason of this present great distress, yet in all times 
there has been about a hundred thousand of these vagabonds, who have lived 
without any regard or subjection, either to the laws of the land, or even those 
of God and nature. No magistrate could ever discover which way one in a 
himdred of these wretches died, or that ever they were baptized. Many mur- 
ders have been discovered amongst them ; and they are a most unspeakable 
oppression to poor tenants, who, if they do not give bread, or some kind of pro- 
vision, to perhaps forty such villains in a day, are sure to be insulted by them. 
In years of plenty many thousands of them meet together in the mountains, 
where they feast and riot for many days ; and at country weddings, markets, 
burials, and other the like public occasions, they are to be seen, both men and 
women, perpetually drunk, cursing, blaspheming, and fighting together. These 
are such outrageous disorders, that it were better for the nation they were sold 
for the gallies or the West Indies, than that they should continue any longer to 
be a burden and a curse upon us." 

No country ever rose so rapidly from so frightful an abyss. In the au- 
tumn circuits or assizes for the year 1757, no one person was found guilty. 
in any part of the country, of a capital crime. And now, notwithstanding 
the increase of population, and a vast influx of paupers from Ireland, 
there are very few beggars in the country; nor has any assessment been 
imposed for the support of the poor, except in some of the large towns, 
and in the counties adjoining England ; and even there it is so light as 
scarcely to be felt. This is a great and signal change. We can not, in- 
deed, go quite so far as those who ascribe it entirely to the establishment 
of the parochial system of education. It is, no doubt, most true, that this 
system ha? had great influence in bringing about the change; but much 
must also be ascribed to the establishment of a regular and greatly im- 
proved system of government ; to the abolition of hereditary jurisdictions. 
by the act of 1748 ; and to the introduction of what may, in its applica- 
tion to the vast majority of cases, be truly said to be a system of speedy, 
cheap and impartial justice. Certainly, however, it was the diffusion of 
education that enabled the people to avail themselves of these advan- 
tages ; and which has, in consequence, led to a far more rapid improve- 
ment than has taken place in any other European country. 

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has ever taken an 
active interest in the parochial schools. Immediately after the passage 
of the act of 1696. the Presbyteries were instructed to carry it into effect, 
and Synods, to make particular inquiry that it was done. In 1704, the 
Assembly undertook to supply schools to such part of the highlands and 
islands as could not be benefited by the act of 1696. In 1705, ministers 
were ordered to see that no parents neglected the teaching of their chil- 



420 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. 

dren to read. In 1706, it was recommended to such as settled echoolmas- 
terfe, " to prefer men who had passed their course at colleges and univer- 
sities, and have taken their degrees, to such as have not." In 1707, 
Synods and Presbyteries were directed to send into the General Assem- 
bly returns of the means and condition of the parochial schools. 

The internal dissensions of Scotland and other causes, however, Avith- 
drew the public attention from the schools; and the advance of society in 
other respects, and the want of a corresponding advance in the wages of 
teachers, and the internal improvement of the schools, all combined to sink 
the condition of parochial education. In 1794, the General Assembly be- 
came roused to the subject. Visitation of the schools was enjoined on the 
clergy ; and they were particularlj'' instructed to inquire into the qualifi- 
cations of the teachers. In 1802, the Assembly issued the following dec- 
laration, &c. : 

" That parochial schoolmasters, by instilling into youth the principles of reli- 
gion and morality, and solid and practical instruction, contribute to the im- 
provement, order, and success of people of all ranks ; and are therefore well 
entitled to public encouragement: That from the decrease in the value ot money, 
their emoluments have descended below the gains of a day laborer: That 
it has been found impossible to procure persons properly qualified to fill paro- 
chial schools : That the whole order is sinking into a state of depression hurt- 
ful to their usefulness : That it is desirable that some means be devised to hold 
forth inducements to men of good principles and talents to undertake the office 
of parochial schoolmasters : And that such men would prove instrumental in 
counteracting the operations of those who may now, and afterward, attempt to 
poison the minds of the rising generation with principles inimical to religion, 
order, and the constitution in church and state." 

In consequence of this declaration by the Church of Scotland, and of the 
complaints which were sent up from all parts of the country, Parliament, 
in the course of the next session, passed the famous act of 1803. which or- 
dains as follows: 

" That, in term.s of the act of iGDti, a school be established, and a schoolmas- 
ter appointed in every parish, the salary of the schoolmaster not to be under 
three hundred marks, (16.^. 135. id..) nor above four hundred, (22;!. 4s. 5d. :) That 
in large parishes, where one parochial school can not be of any effectual benefit, 
it shall be competent for the heritors and minister to raise a salary of six hun- 
dred marks, (33^. 6s. 8d.,) and to divide the same among two or more schoolmas- 
ters, as circumstances may require : That in every parish the heritors sliall 
provide a school-house, and a dwelling-house for the schoolmaster, together 
with a piece of ground for a garden, the dwelling-house to consist of not more 
than two apartments, and the piece' of ground to contain not less than one- 
fourth of a Scots acre; except in parishes where the salary has been raised to 
six hundred marks, in which the heritors shall be exempted from providing 
school-houses, dwelling-houses, and gardens : That the foregoing sums shall 
continue to be the salaries of parochial schoolmasters till the end of twenty-five 
years, when they shall be raised to the average value of not less than one chal-' 
der and a half of oatmeal, and not more than two chalders; except in parishes 
where the salaries are divided among two or more schoolmasters, in which case 
the whole sum so divided shall be raised to the value of three chalders; and so 
toties quoties at the end of every twenty-five years, unless altered by parliament: 
That none of the provisions of this act shall apply to parishes, which consist of 
a royal burgh, or part of a royal burgh : That the power of electing schoolmas- 
ters continue with the heritors and minister, a majority of whom shall also de- 
termine what branches of education are most necessary and important for the 
parish, and shall from time to time fix the school-fees as they shall deem expe- 
dient : That the presbyteries of the church shall judge whether candidates for 



ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. 421 

schools possess the necessary qualifications, shall continue to superintend paro- 
chial schools, and shall be the sole judges in all charges against schoolmas- 
ters, Avithout appeal or review." 

In the year 1828, as the statute had provided, a small addition was 
made to the emoluments of the parochial schoolmasters, the maximum 
salary having been increased to 34Z. As. 4c/., and the minimum to 
251. 13s. 3d. 

The deplorable scenes of outrage and murder, which occurred in the 
streets of Edinburgh on the 1st of January, 1812, made the city clergy 
anxious to devise some means for diminishing the mass of crime and 
misery which was then brought to light. The scheme first proposed, and 
carried into execution, was to establish sabbath schools in all the parishes 
within the royalty, to which they gave the name of the Parochial Institu- 
tions for Religious Education. It was soon found, however, that the use- 
fulness of these institutions was greatly limited, in consequence of a very 
great number of the children, for whose benefit they were intended, being 
unable to read. It was therefore proposed that, in connection with the 
sabbath schools, a day school should be established, which was accord- 
ingly opened on the 29th of April, 1813. This day school took the name 
of the Edinburgh Sessional School, from the circumstance of its being 
superintended by a minister or an elder from each kirk-session* in the city. 
The object of this school is to give instruction to the children of the poor 
in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Five gratis scholars may be recom- 
mended by each kirk-session ; but the charge to all the others is sixpence 
per month. For many years the average attendance has been about 
500 ; so that the school-fees, together with occasional donations, and a 
small share of the collections made annually at the church doors for the 
parochial institutions, have hitherto been sufficient to meet the ordinary 
expenses of the school. At first, no particular regulations were laid 
down for conducting the Sessional School; but after some years, the 
system of Dr. Bell was partially introduced. In the year 1819, circum- 
stances led Mr. John Wood, Sheriff-deputy of the county of Peebles, to 
take an interest in the institution ; and that benevolent individual began 
by degrees to give so much of his time and attention to it, that it soon be- 
came almost identified with his name. Under his superintendence, a 
large and commodious school-house was erected, and the system of 
teaching entirely re-modeled. In the latter department of his meritori- 
ous labors, Mr. Wood did not adopt the particular views of any one wri- 
ter on education, but collected from all what he thought useful, and ar- 
ranged it into a method of his own. So judicious is this plan of tuition, 
that it has not only been crowned with complete success in the Sessional 

* A kirk-session is the lowest ecclesiastical court in Scotland, and consists of the clergymen of 
each congregation, with a small number of lay elders : it generally meets on Sunday, after public 
worship. The next court, in point of judicial authority, is the presbytery, which consists of all the 
clergymen within a certain district, with a lay elder from each congregation : this court meets once 
a month. All the presbyteries within given bounds, form a still higher court, called a synod, which 
meets twice in the year. The General Jissemhly is the supreme judicial and legislative court of 
the Church of Scotland ; it consists of clerical and lay representatives from the several presbyteries, 
of a lay elder from each royal burgh, and of a Commissioner to represent his Majesty, and holds it* 
sittiogs at Edinburgh, once a year, for about a foitnight. 



422 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. 

School, but has been introduced, either partially, or entirely, into many 
other public and private seminaries, and has, in fact, given a new im- 
pulse to the work of elementary instruction throughout Scotland. 

In 1837 the Sessional School was, with the approbation of Mr. Wood, 
constituted the Normal School of the General Assembly, and persons in- 
tending to offer themselves as teachers in schools aided by the Education 
Committee, were furnished with opportunities of conducting classes daily, 
and of being instructed with pupils of the same standing with themselves. 
Previous to this movement, in 1835, the Educational Society of Glasgow 
had been formed, among other purposes, " for the training of teachers for 
juvenile schools." In 1842, both of these institutions were placed under 
the direction of the Educational Committee of the Church of Scotland, 
and the Committee of Council on Education, in that year, made a grant of 
$50,000 toward providing a new building for the Normal School at 
Edinburgh, and completing a building already commenced for the Nor- 
mal School at Glasgow. The two buildings cost about $130,000. In the 
same year the General Assembly appointed a superintendent to visit the 
schools aided by the education committee, and voted to aid in the erection 
of not less than five hundred new schools in connection with destitute 
parishes. 

In 1841. William Watson, Sheriff-substitute of Aberdeenshire, com- 
menced a system of Industrial Schools in Aberdeen, which embraced 
within its comprehensive grasp, all classes of idle, vagrant children, and 
in its beneficent operation, cleansed in two years a large town and county 
of juvenile criminals and beggars. Out of this experiment has grown 
the system of Ragged and Industrial Schools, which are now found in 
many of the large towns of England, Scotland and Ireland. 

The permanent support of public, and in some cases, free schools, is 
provided for in certain localities by the income of funds left by will or do- 
nation for this purpose. It has been estimated that the annual income 
of these funds amounts to near $100,000. 

There are a number of local societies, such as that for " Propagating 
Christian Knowledge," founded in 1701, the Gaelic School Society, that of 
Inverness, Ayrshire, &c., instituted for the purpose of supplying destitute 
parishes with schools, and of aiding those already established. The sums 
annually appropriated by the societies, amount to about $75,000. 

The Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland, together, 
appropriate, out of permanent funds and contributions collected in the 
churches for this purpose, the sum of $50,000 in aid of schools in destitute 
parishes, and in educating teachers for the parochial schools generally. 

In 1836, the sum of $50,000 was voted by Parhament in aid of private 
subscriptions for the erection of school-houses, and the establishment of 
Model Schools. 

Notwithstanding all these efforts, the extension of the system of pEtro- 
chial schools has not kept up with the growth of the population, espe- 
cially in the manufacturing towns, and the quality of the education given 
has not met the demands of educated and wealthy families. 



ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. 423 

One of the most interesting facts in the history of parochial schools in 
Scotland, wherever they were adequately maintained, was the attend- 
ance in them of children from families widely separated in outward cir- 
cumstances — the rich and the poor, the laborer with his hands and the 
laborer with his head. The presence of the children oC the better edu- 
cated and wealthier classes gave importance to the school in the estimation 
of the poor, and raised the whole tone and standard of manners an<l intel- 
lectual culture within the school and village. It created, too, a bond of 
union in society, which is thus beautifully noticed by Lord Brougham, 
(then Henry Brougham,) in some remarks at a public dinner in Edin- 
burgh, in 1825. 

'* A public school, like the Old High School of Edinburgh, is invaluable, and for 
what ds it so 1 It is because men of the highest and lowest rank in society 
send their ■children to be educated together. The oldest friend I have in the 
world, your worthy Vice President, and myself, were at the High School of 
Edinburgh together, and in the same class along with others, who still possess 
our friendship, and some of them in a rank of life still higher than his. One of 
them was a nobleman, who is now in the House of Peers; and some of them 
were sons of shopkeepers in the lowest parts of the Cowgate of Edinburgh — 
shops of the most inferior description — and one or two of them were the sons of 
menial servants in the town. There they were, sitting side by side, giving and 
taking places from each other, without the sliglitest impression on the part of 
my noble friends of any superiority on their parts to the other boys, or any ideas 
of inferiority on the part of the other boys to them; and this is my reason for 
preferring the Old High School of Edinburgh to other, and what may be 
termed more'patrician schools, however well regulated or conducted." * * 

Another distinguished pupil of this school remarks: " Several circum- 
stances distinguished the High School beyond any other which I attended : 
for instance, variety of ranks ; for 1 used to sit between a youth of a 
ducal family and the son of a poor cobler." This fact will distinguish 
good public schools of a superior grade, provided they are cheap, every 
where. The High School, like the parochial schools of Scotland, gener- 
ally is not a I'ree school, but the quarterly charge for tuition is small a« 
compared with the actual cost of instruction in private institutions of the 
fiame grade. The fees payable in advance are £1. Is. per quarter. The 
course of instruction embraces all the branches of the liberal education 
suitable to boys, from eight to sixteen years of age. 

In connection with this mention of the High School of Edinburgh, we 
will introduce a few historical facts, which point back to a very early 
period for the origin of the system of parochial schools in Scotland. The 
funds out of which the edifice now occupied by the high school was built, 
and which was completed in 1829, at an expenseof £34,199, were derived, 
in part, from endowments belonging to the Abbey of Holyrood, founded 
by David I., in 1236, with which this school was connected as early as 
1500. The school came into the management of the magistrates of 
Edinburgh in 1566. Prior to that, a grammar school had existed in the 
Cannongate, under the charge of the friars of the same monastery, "past 
the memorie of man," as is stated in a memorial to the privy council, in 
1580. In the year 1173, Perth and Stirling had their school, of which 
the monks of Dumfernline were directors. Authentic records introduciB 

27 



424 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. 

US to similar institutions in the towns of Aberdeen and Ayr. The schools 
in the county of Roxburgh were under the care of the monks of Kelso 
as early as 1241 ; those of St. Andrew, in 1233 ; and those of Montrose, in 
1329. 

The success of the school system of Scotland is to be attributed to their 
being erected on a permanent and conspicuous foundation, and to that 
particular constitution which made the situation of the teacher desirable 
to young men of education, for its competent salary, permanence, and so- 
cial consideration. Of the three modes of providing for popular instruc- 
tion, — that in which the scholars pay every thing, and the public nothing ; 
that in which the public pay every thing by a tax on property, or by 
avails of permanent funds, and the scholars nothing ; and that in which 
the burden is shared by both, — the latter was adopted in the original plan 
of the Scotch schools. The existence of the school was not left to chance 
or charity, but was permanently fixed by law on every parish. The 
school edifice and the residence of the teacher were to be provided for by 
public assessment, as much as the church, or the public road, or bridge. 
The salary of the teachers was so far fixed by law, that it could not sink 
below the means of a respectable maintenance according to the standard 
oi' living in a majority of the country parishes. 

Dr. Chalmers, in his valuable ^'■Considerations on the System of Paro- 
chial Schools in Scotland,'''' thus notices some of the peculiarities of the 
system : 

" The universality of the habit of education in our Lowland parishes, is cer- 
tainly a very striking fact ; nor do we think that the mere lowness of the price 
forms the whole explanation of it. There is more than may appear at first 
sight, in the very circumstance of a marked and separate edifice, standing vis- 
ibly out to the eye of the people, with its familiar and oft-repeated designation. 
There is also much in the constant residence of a teacher, moving through the 
people of his locality, and of recognized office and distinction amongst them. 
And perhaps there is most of all in the tie which binds the locality itself to the 
parochial seminary, that has long stood as the place of repair, for the successive 
young belonging to the parish; for it is thus that one family borrows its prac- 
tice from another — and the example spreads from house to house, till it embraces 
the whole of the assigned neighborhood — and the act of sending their children 
to the school, passes at length into one of the tacit, but well-understood propri- 
eties of the vicinage — and new families just fall, as if by infection, into the habit 
of the old ones — so as. in fact, to give a kind of firm, mechanical certainty to 
the operation of a habit, from which it were violence and singularity to depart, 
and in virtue of which, education has acquired a universality in Scotland, 
which is unknown in the other countries of the world." 

The best minds of Scotland are at this time directed to a re-construc- 
tion of the system of parochial schools, or to such an extension of its bene- 
fita, as will reach at once, the wants of the large towns, and of the sparsely 
populated parishes. Among the plans set forth, we have seen nothing 
more complete than the following, which is signed by some of the most 
distinguished names in Scotland. 

" The subscribers of this document, believing that the state of Scotland anS 
the general feeling of its inhabitants justify and demand the legislative estab- 
lishment of a comprehensive plan of national education, have determined that 
an effort shall be made to unite the friends of this great cause on principles at 
Once so general and so definite as to form a basis for practical legislation ; and 



ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. '4^5 

with this view, they adopt the following resolutions, and recommend them to the 
consideration of the country : — 

1. That while it might be difficult to describe, with a near approach to sta- 
tistical precision, the exact condition of Scotland at this moment in regard to 
education, there can be no doubt that, as a people, we have greatly sunk from 
our former elevated position among educated nations, and that a large propor- 
tion of our youth are left without education, to grow up in an ignorance misera- 
ble to themselves and dangerous to society; that this state of matters is the 
more melancholy, as this educational destitution is found chiefly among the 
masses of our crowded cities, in our manufacturing and mining districts, and 
in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, where the people are not likely spon- 
taneously to provide instruction for themselves ; that the quality of education, 
even where it does exist, is often as defective as its quantity; and that this is a 
state of things requiring an immediate remedy. 

2. That the subscribers hold it to be of vital and primary importance that 
sound religious instruction be communicated to all the youth of the land by 
teachers duly qualified; and they express this conviction in the full belief that 
there will never beany enlargement of education in Scotland, on a popular and 
national basis, which will not carry with it an extended distribution of religious 
instruction ; while, from the strong religious views entertained by the great 
mass of the people of this country, and the interest which they take in the mat- 
ter of education, the subscribers can see in the increase of knowledge only an 
enlargement of the desire and of the capacity to communicate a full religious 
education to the generation whose parents have participated in this advantage. 

3. That the parish schools of Scotland are quite inadequate to the educa- 
tional wants of the country, and are defective and objectionable in consequence 
of the smallness of the class invested with the patronage, the limited portion of 
the community from which the teachers are selected, the general inadequacy 
of their remuneration, and the system of management applicable to the schools, 
inferring as it does the exclusive control of church courts; that a general sys- 
tem of national education, on a sound and popular basis, and capable of com- 
municating instruction to all classes of the community, is urgently called for; 
and that provision should be made to include in any such scheme, not only all 
the parish schools, but also all existing schools, wherever they are required by 
the necessities of the population, whose supporters may be desirous to avail 
themselves of its advantages. 

4. That the teachers appointed under the system contemplated by the subscri- 
bers should not be required by law to subscribe any religious lest ; that Normal 
Schools for the training of teachers should be established ; that, under a general 
arrangement for the examination of the qualifications of schoolmasters, the pos- 
session of a license of certificate of qualification should be necessary to entitle 
a teacher to become a candidate for any school under the national system; and 
that provision should be made for the adequate remuneration of all teachers 
who may be so appointed. 

5. That the duty and responsibility of communicating religious instruction to 
children have, in the opinion of the subscribers, been committed by God to their 
parents, and through them to such teachers as they may choose to intrust with 
that duty; that in the numerous schools throughout Scotland, which have been 
founded and supported by private contribution, the religious element has al- 
ways held a prominent place ; and that, were the power of selecting the masters, 
fixing the branches to be taught, and managing the schools, at present vested 
by law in the Heritors of Scotland and the Presbyteries of the Established 
Church, to be transferred to the heads of families under a national system of 
education, the subscribers would regard such an arrangement as afibrding not 
only a basis of union for the great mass of the people of this country, but a far 
better security than any that at present exists both for a good secular and a 
good Christian education. 

6. That in regard to a legislative measure, the subscribers are ofopinion, 
with the late lamented Dr. Chalmers, that ' there is no other method of extri- 
cation,' from the difficulties with which the question of education in connection 
with religion is encompassed in this country, than the plan suggested by him 
as the only practicable one, — namely, ' That in any public measure for helping 
on the education of the people, government [should] abstain from introducing 
the element of religion at all into their part of the scheme, and this, not because 



426 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. 

they held the matter to be insignificant — the contrary might be strongly ex- 
pressed in the preamble of their act — but on the ground that, in the present di- 
vided state of the Christian world, they would take no cognizance of, just be- 
cause they would attempt no control over, the religion of applicants for aid — 
leaving this matter entire to the parties who had to do with ihe erection and 
management of the schools which they had been called upon to assist. A 
grant by the State upon this footing might be regarded as being appropriately 
and exclusively the expression of their value for a good secular education.' 

7. That in order to secure the confidence of the people of Scotland generally 
in anational system of education, as well as tosecureits eflicieiicy, the following 
should be its main features: — 1st, That Local Boards should be established, 
the members to be appointed by popular election, on the principle of giving the 
franchise to all male heads of families being householders; and with these 
Boards should lie the selection of masters, the general management of the 
schools, and the right, without undue interference with the master, to direct the 
branches of education to be taught. 2d, That there should be a general su- 
perintending authority, so constituted as to secure the public confidence, and 
to be responsible to the country through Parliament, which, without supersed- 
ing the Local Boards, should see that their duties are not neglected — prevent 
abuses from being perpetrated through carelessness or design — check extrava- 
gant expenditure — protect the interests of all parties — collect and preserve the 
general statistics of education — and diffuse thi'oughout the country, by commu- 
nication with the local boards, such knowledge on the subject of education, 
and such enlightened views, as their authoritative position, and their command 
of aid from the highest intellects in the country, may enable them to commu- 
nicate. 

Were such a system adopted, the subscribers are of opinion that it would be 
quite unnecessary either for the legislature or any central authority to dictate 
or control the education to be imparted in the National Schools, or to prescribe 
any subject to be taught, or book to be used ; and should a measure founded on 
these suggestions become law, not only would the subscribers feel it to be their 
duty, but they confidently believe the ministers and religious communities in 
the various localities would see it to be theirs, to use all their influence in pro- 
moting such arrangements as, in the working of the plan, would effectually se- 
cure a sound religious education to the children attending the schools." 

In September. 1847, on the invitation of an educational association of 
Glasgow, a large meeting of teachers from various parts of Scotland was 
convened in the High School of Edinburgh, and "the Educational Insti- 
tute of Scotland" was formed. The following is the preamble of the 
constitution'; 

"As the office of a public teacher is one of great responsibility, and of much 
importance to the welfare of the community ; as it requires for its right dis- 
charge, a considerable amount of professional acquirements and skill ; and as 
there is no organized' body in Scotland, whose duty it is to ascertain and cer- 
tify the qualifications of those intending to enter upon this oflice, and whose at- 
testation shall be a sufficient recommendation to the individual, and guarantee 
to his employers ; it is expedient that the teachers of Scotland, agreeably to the 
practice of other liberal professions, should unite for the purpose of suppljring 
this defect in the educational arrangements of the country, and thereby of in- 
creasing their efficiency, improving their condition, and raising the standard of 
education in general." 

Among the modes of advancing the objects of the Institute, are speci- 
fied '• the dissemination of a knowledge of the theory and practice of 
education by means of public lectures, and the institution of libraries." 



NORMAL SCHOOLS 



EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW 

The Normal School at Edinburgh originated iu 1826, when the Educa- 
tion Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 
placed a few teachers appointed to their schools in the Highlands, at one 
of their best conducted schools in Edinburgh, for a short course of prepar- 
atory training. In 1838. the Sessional School of Tron Parish, was tran.s- 
feiTcd to that Committee, to enable them to pursue this plan with moi-e 
convenience and effect. It was the best model elementary school iu Scot- 
land, and it w"as used, as much as possible, to all the intents of a normal 
seminary for teachers, under the care of the Assembly Committee, down 
to the year 1845, when the new building in Castle Place, built expressly 
for a Normal School, was occupied for the same purpose, wdth a model 
school constituted of children from the inmiediate neighborhood. 

In the mean time, an Institution had been established in Glasgow, 
mainly through the efforts of Mr. Stow, and an association, called the 
Glasgow Education Society, for the purpose of " training "' a class of teach- 
ers who should be qualified to afford to the neglected children of the poor 
in that city, much of that moral education which was wanting to them at 
home. The attempt to erect a suitable building for the accommodation of 
the Normal and Model schools, embarrassed the Society, and about the 
year 1840, the institution was transferred to the General Assembly's 
Committee; and in that year the Committee of Council on Education 
made a grant of lO.OOOL to the same Committee, to enable them to com- 
plete the building at Glasgow, and erect a new edifice at Edinburgh, on 
condition that 5.0001. should be raised for the latter purpose by the Gene- 
ral Assembly. 

The circumstances out of which these institutions arose, are thus noticed 
by Mr. Gordon, her Majesty's Inspector of Schools for Scotland, from 
whose Report for 1847, the following account is compiled : 

1. It was seen that a considerable part of the lower population, whether because 
schools were wanting, or ill conducted, or ill attended, bad received little or no ed- 
ucation; and it was judged tliat, if more attention were bestowed upon the prepa- 
ration of teachers, an improvement in this respect would take place, not merely from 
the abler tuition so provided, but from that better inclination to be instructed, wliich 
follows in general the appearance of intelligent and zealous masters. It was sup- 
posed, also, that such a preparation of the teachers, at once more liberal and more 
specially directed to their profession, would help to the attainment of their proper 
place in the community, and so benefit the education of the country ; for if the in- 
creased resort to schools should do little for their advantage in respect of income, 
some advantage of the kind would be the more apt, with every addition to their 
merits, to arise from other quarters ; if not, the benefit would remain, of their pos- 
sessing as much intelligence as would itself prove a source of enjoyment and re- 
spectabiUty. 



428 EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

2. In the next place, the population had so far outgrown the means of education 
provided by law, that the unendowed schools were more tlian three times the num- 
ber of the endowed, while their masters Avere generally inferior to those of the 
latter class, and often so unequal to the duty they had undertaken, as to suggest 
forcibly the need of their being someliow enabled to come to it with more of the 
requisite qualification. And tliis appeared the more needi'ul, as the non parochial 
teacliers were not subject to the same legal test of quahtication as those of tlie es- 
tablished scliools, wliile the want of such a test in their case might be, in some 
measure, supplied by a system of preliminary Iraiiiing. 

S. The opportunities of employment opened up by the extension of commerce, 
manufactures, mining, and otiier kinds of industry, had indirectly tended to lower 
«>till mfire the quahtication of those who were left to pursue the business of teaching. 

4. Another effect of the extension of the national industry in these departments 
Avas to withdraw from school a great proportion of the children of the laborn)g 
classes at a very early age ; and it was plain that the shorter the period of educa- 
tion, so much the more need that the masters should be competent to employ it to 
good account. 

5. It was oi:iserved that there is a tendency in tlie occupations connected with 
some of the branches of industry now mentioned, to impair the character of do- 
mestic education among the lab.)ring classes ; and the remedy was looked for in the 
school. The school came, on this account, to be considered, ratiier more than it had 
been, as a place not merely of instruction, but of general education— as approj)ri- 
ating, in fact, somewhat more of the otiice of the parent. It followed that the 
general character and manners of the n^asters became to the promotei's of schools 
a matter of still greater interest tlian before ; and the same could be, at once, dis- 
covered and formed, or in some degree influenced, in the Normal Scliool. 

6. There was another and more special reason for the establishment of schools 
of this sort, in the improvements Avhich had been recently introduced upon the 
methods of elementary instruction, and this chiefly in the Sessional School, Market 
Place, Edinburgh. To establish a normal seminary might Avell be considered as 
tiie readiest mode of diifusing a kn(jwledge of such improvements; and according- 
ly the Sessional School now mentioned was among the first, if not the first in Scot- 
land, which came to be employed for normal purposes. 

7. It became more commonly known than befure, that institutions of the kind had 
been tried in Prussia, Germany, and France, and with results that might well tempt 
the experiment elsewhere. 

These circumstances suggested the formation of a seminary for the preparation 
of teachers, in the hope of thereby amending much of Avhat was seen to be amiss 
in the state of education throughout the country ; and accordingly the education 
sought aid of the Committee of Council, which was granted to the extent of 10,- 
000/. for building purposes, and 1,000/. annually, towards the current expenses of 
the two institutions. — the sums to be divided equally between them, and the Gene- 
al Assembly obligating itself to appropriate a like sum to the sanTe objects. 

Each .seminary is .superintended by a Sub-committee of the General As- 
sembly'.s Education Committee, who appoint the ma-sters, regulate the 
expenditures, the rate of school-fce.s, the terin,s of admission, and other 
matters. 

Each seminary has a fund applicable to its uses of 1,000/. besides a 
revenue from school fees, amounting to about 250/. more. Both are open 
to candidates of all religious denominations, and to students who do not 
reside, as to those who do reside in the institution. About one-half of the 
students are admitted free, (their expenses of board and tuition are paid 
out of the permanent resources of the Committee) — one quarter reside 
in the institution at their own expense, and one quarter reside out of the 
institution and pay their own board, and an admission fee of one guinea. 
The average number in attendance is fifty. 

The board of instruction consists of a Ftcctor, a first, second and third 
master, who give their time wholly to their respective seminaries, and 
three other masters wlio teach only for certain hours in each day. 



EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW N0R:MAL SCHOOLS. 429 

The opportunities of instruction in the arts of teaching and of school 
management, wiiich form the distingiiisliing object of these schools, have 
been provided in three different ways — by practice, by example, and by 
lecture. The students are appointed to teach, and to observe the teaching 
of the masters in the model or practising scliools, \\hich are constituent 
parts of the seminaries, and which, though intended at the same time for 
the " instruction of the children of ihe poor," n)ust be regarded mainly as 
tjubservient to the normal office of the institutions with wiiich they are 
connected. 

The attendance at each school amounts to about 550. 

The methods employed in the practising schools ai'c not distinguished 
from those which arc common in other schools of the better class. Normal 
schools may be e.vpected to teach something of the nature of all methods 
of any recognised value ; but their practising departments must be con- 
ducted on some single, congruous systetn. The simultaneous method, 
accordingly, is practised in both schools, but with that care to ascertain 
the impression made upon the minds of individuals, without, which that 
mode is incomplete. The monitorial plan is not employed in either school, 
simply because the aid it furnishes is not tliere needed ; but a semblance 
of it is presented in the teaching of the students. The Glasgow school has 
Etill some features of the system on which it was originally conducted — 
the gallery exercises, among which is the admirably conducted Bible 
lesson, frequent singing, much precision in the movements of the classes, 
regulated gynmastics, a style of interrogation tliat supplies great part of 
the answer, and that negation of all distinctions by means of places or 
reward, which has been noticed as marking with less questionable 
propriety, the order of the students when classed together for their separate 
instruction. 

In the Edinburgh school, each student is occupied in instructing a section 
of the pupils two hours daily. One section of the children is placed under 
charge of two students, who teach tliat section alternately for the space of 
fourteen days. Another section in a different stage of progress then 
succeeds, and remains under the same charge for the same length of time ; 
and so on, till, in the course of two months, an occasion of teaching has 
been given to each, in all the branches and in every stage of progress. 
Meantime, their manner of conducting their respective sections is observed 
cither by the rector, who is present in the practising school for this 
purpose one hour and a half daily on an average, or by one or other of the 
masters, who employ two hours daily in like manner, — each master, 
however, confming him.self to a distinct section of the school. The 
students are thus under direct observation, during the greater part of the 
time they are employed in teaching ; and afterwards, in their private class 
they receive the remarks which the rector and the masters may have made 
upon the manner in which they severally appeared to have performed their 
tasks. 

They are, next, allowed to see the masters teach daily, for a certain 
length of time, amounting on an average to one hour and a half. On these 
occasions, all the students are present at the same time, and all the 
branches are taught in rotation, upon the days specified in the Time-table 
appended. They are required to mark closely everything in the masters' 
mode of conoucting the different lessons, and to note down their remarks 
for their own benefit afterwards. The notes are subsequently examined; 
and it is soon perceived, in the character of their own succeeding practice, 
how far they had profited from the example of the masters. 

Lastly, they have all, both male and female, an opportunity of attend- 
ing a weekly lecture delivered by the rector upon the theory and art of 



430 EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

teaching, the design of which is described as being " to counteract the ten- 
dency of the practical engagements of the elementary school to degenerate 
into mere routine and a copy of the superintending master." The course 
consists of twenty lectures, occupied with the various topics set forth in 
the appended Syllabus. 

If the object of the common school be not merely to instruct, but to 
educate ; not merely to inform the understanding, but to cultivate the 
entire character, the object of the normal school is assuredly no less com- 
prehensive. The schoolmaster, it is always to be remembered, is a moral 
teacher, and must be prepared expressly for that delicate and difficult 
office. The normal schools accordingly provide for communicating this 
qualification. 

Each hour in the day, from 6 a. m. to half-past 10 p. m., has its allotted 
occupation, fixed by rules which are unvarying, and, so far as could be 
perceived, invariably observed. Half an hour is set apart in the morning 
for devotional exercises, and half an hour for the same in the evening. 
On Sabbath one hour and a half is employed, under the rector, in exercises 
upon Bible history and Christian doctrine : public worship is attended in 
one or other of the churches of the city ; and in the evening, written 
abstracts of the discourses heard during the day are prepared and 
submitted to the rector's inspection. These arrangements mark a due 
solicitude for the moral well-being of the students, and a sense of its 
essential connection with the professional qualification of a school-master. 

At the same time, the general culture of the students at the Normal 
school almost necessarily receives a bent to their future calling — and this 
from the proper influences of the place, in particular from the fellowship 
of so many engaged in the same studies, brought together after a common 
trial, looking forward to the same pursuit, and entertaining the same 
hopes, anxieties, and ambitions. A society so formed begets a bias to the 
professed object so decided, that there is less hazard than might have been 
expected of the superior instruction of a normal school tempting to aspire 
beyond the schoolmaster's calling. 

The following is the plan on which both schools are now conducted : 

The Directors liave considered, in the first place, that schools for the children of 
the poor, if they do not need to afford more than a limited elementary education, 
behove to afford the same by masters as competent within their range as any 
masters intrusted with a more extended cliarge ; nay, that there are difficulties in 
the management of such schools, from the short and broken attendance of the 
pupils, that require in the teachers somewhat more than the usual ability and 
devotion to tlieu' duty. They have considered, further, that a more advanced educa- 
tion is sought at many schools, the teachers of which are not qualified, and have 
liad no means of being qualified, to supply it. For these reasons they have pro- 
posed — 

1. That two distinct classes of teachers shall be educated at the normal seminaries — one for 
elementary schools, the other for those of a higher or mixed kind, such as the parochial schools. 

The examinations for admission are now conducted by tliose who, from their 
office, may bo fairly presumed competent ; and, at the same time, disinterested in 
the absence of all relation to the candidates. But the case is somewhat altered 
when tlie student appears for a final examination ; for then, thougli tlie compe- 
tency may be still the same, he has been the pupil of those who are now to judge 
of his proficiency — in otlier words, of the success with which his studies liave been 
conducted, and, by inference, of the skill with which these studies have been 
directed. Tlie following rule has, therefore, been laid down : — 

2. That the first examination shall be conducted by the General Assembly's Committee and 
the rectors and masters ; the final examination by the same parties assisted by a professor in the 
University and by a master in the High School of Edinburgh or Glasgow. 

It is fuither proposed to extend the range of study at the institution for the 



EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW NORMAL SCHOOLS. 431 

teachers of both classes, and, above all, to impart to them a fuller and more exact 
knowledge of the subject with which, from the beginning, they had been partially 
acquainted. In this, the Directors have proceeded upon these views — that if a 
teacher's knowledge should considerably exceed what he is called on to impart, 
tliere is no prejudice, but the reverse, to liis ability for teaching, — those who have 
been educated in higher things being commonly found to excel in the lower paths 
of instruction ; that the estimation and authority of a teacher always rise with his 
attainments: that a general intelligence beyond the limit referred to bears 
directly upon that part of the work of education which is distinguished from mere 
instruction ; that the more promising youth have the better chance of being brought 
forward under such a master : and, moreover, that to the master himself the pos- 
.session of a fund of hberal knowledge is likely to prove a source at once of comfort 
and of energy. For these reasons, — 

3. The students, before leaving the institution, are to prove a qualification of defined extent in 
tlie branches under noted : 

First Class. — 1, English reading ; 2, writing ; 3, English grammar, — elemen- 
tary manual, and an enlarged course (e. g. Latham's), with etymology; 4, English 
composition — abstracts and original essays ; 5, arithmetic — theorj^ and practice, a 
full course, with mental arithmetic, book-keeping ; 6, elementary geography, 
followed by a course of physical geography and use of globes ; '^, general history, 
Avith at least one portion of particular history ( e. g. that of Great Britain or the 
period of tlie Reformation) : 8, natural history ; 9, siiiging ; \0, linear drawing ; 
11, pedagogy ; 12, religious knowledge — (a) Bible doctrine (Confession of Faith 
and Shorter Catechism) ; (6) Bible analysis (examination of a given portion of the 
text ;) (e) history of the Old and New Testaments, followed by (d) outlines of 
ecclesiastical history and the evidences of revealed religion. 

Second ClxVss. — All the branches of the preceding class, witli 13, Latin — Livy, 
Virgil, Terence, themes, English rendered into Latin, Roman antiquities, syno- 
nymes, tfec. ; 14, Greek — Analecta Minora, Greek Testament, two books of the 
Anabasis, two books of Homer ; 15, mathematics — a full course of EucUd, practical 
trigonometry, mensuration of surfaces and solids, land-surveying, algebra to cubic 
equations, elements of mechanics. 

The Directors are well aware that this course of study is not to be completed in 
a short time ; and moreover, tliat the number of tlie teachers sent forth must 
diminish, as the term of their attendance is extended. Nevertheless, they prefer 
a distinction for the seminaries rather in the accomplishment of a few to that 
extent, than in the slightest preparation of many ; and consider that they thus 
afford to the normal system a better chance of attaining its due estimation and 
success. They do not, in the mean time, fix the utmost length of the attendance, 
but they prescribe — 

4. That the least period of attendance for students of both classes shall be eighteen months. 

At the same time, precautions will be taken to insure that the individuals 
lavored witii this prolonged, invaluable opportunity of study are not such as shall 
disappoint expectation afterwards. 

5. At the end of three months from the periodical admission of students, the rectors shall report 
to the directing Committees on the general conduct of the students, the progress they have made 
and the capacity they have shown during that time. The report to be engrossed in the minutes 
of the institution. 

Tliese regulations apply to all students admitted on the footing of free main- 
tenance ; and to those, also, who are not so favored, but who are willing to comply 
with the rule fixing the least period of attendance. There is, however, another 
class of persons who seek admission, consisting of those who could not venture to 
compete for the benefit of free maintenance, and have not the means of maintain- 
ing themselves for even the least appointed term ; of those, also, who can afford 
but little time from other charges with which they are already occupied ; and of 
those who, having completed a curriculum of literature and pliilosophy at some 
university, require no more of the normal institutions than what they afford of 
instruction upon the arts of teaching and school management. It is therefore 
proposed — 



432 EDiXBURGii a?:d glasgov/ i\'ormal schools. 

0. To admit students at their own expense at any time without examination, except by th« 
lector, upon evidence of respectable character, and for such period as they may find convenient to 
remain ; and to afford them an examination at any time upon their professing the qualification 
reqaired of the regular students at the termination of their course. 

It has been further arranged that, to give a fair opportunity to the students of 
mastering tlie required qualification, not only the term of tlio attendance sliall be 
prolonged, but that more time than heretofore shall be alknved for their own 
study and instruction. This time is to be taken from their occupation in the 
practicing schools : where it is not thought necessary they should be employed so 
much as heretofoi'e, nor quite so much at one period of the course as at another. 
Accordingly — 

7. One hour daily is alloted to the students for teaching m the practicing schools during the first 
half of the term, and two hours during the second. 

At the same time, to maintain the due importance of thi? practice, and to give 
the advantage of carrying it on with mutual aid and under nmtual observation, it 
is appointed — 

8. That one hour daily shall be devoted to the teaching of a class by one student in presence of 
all the rest, each having the same office in rotation on successive days ; and to hearing the re- 
marks of all upon the luanuer in which the task has beeu performed — the rector presiding. 

The practicing schools having now less aid than formerly from the services of 
the students, the want will be supplied by the employment of assistant teachers 
and apprentice-pupils. At the same time, the attendance will be reduced to an 
amount more suited to t!\e extent of the accommodation, to 35U in the one institu- 
tion, and 500 in the other. In short, the Directors have proposed to remodel this 
department, and have resolved — 

9. That the practicing school is to be considered as mainly subservient to the normal school ; 
and to be so formed as to atlord to the students opportunities of teaching all parts of an elemen- 
tary cour;-e, and if possible the elements of some branches more advanced. 

These arrangements liave led to others of less moment, which it is utiuecessary 
here to descriije. For one thing, they have occasioned another distribution of 
time for the occupation of the rectors and the masters ; in the settling of Avhich, 
the general principle has been held in view, that the instruction of the students 
should be intrusted as niuch as possible to the rector and the ni.ithematical tutors; 
wliilo the masters will have charge of the practising schools, and the Euperinten- 
dence of the students when teaching. The regulation on this head is — 

10. That the students shall be under the rector four hours daily for instruction in the branches 
they are required to study, except the mathematical, which will be conducted by the tutor for 
one hour aud a half in the evening ; that they shall also, while leaching in the practicing school, 
be under tiie occ:asioiial supervi.-iion of the rector, as well as that of the masters. 

After all, it is not by any organization, however carefully or well contiived, tliat 
the excellence of a school is to be secured ; everything still depending on the 
genius of the master. And if this be true in regard to common schools, it is still 
moi'e so in regard to those, wliich have the exemplification of good methods for 
their distinguishing object. The Directors have theiefore signified that their main 
reliance is upon the devotcdness and skill of the rectors and the masters ; wLoni 
they have appointed to find for tliese institutions their proper position in the edu- 
cational system of the country. 

It is not f(jrgutten that a uorm.al school, though perfect in all respects, would 
not jjresent a model for exact imitation in all cases, and that the application of its 
methods to the management of connnon schools must be left, in great part, to the 
judgment of the masters of the latter. No school, indeed, can be the very pattern 
for others that exist under dift'erent circumstances ; and the noimal schools are, 
from their very nature, singular in some of their conditions. It is enotigh that in 
them, so for as they are normal, the general principles of method are taught, exem- 
plified, and practiced. To the masters it may be reserved, in mere deference to 
their self respect to form the plan of their own schools, according to 
their own knowledge of what the locality requires or permits, and according to the 
general notions of method which they have received. In short, it is as little desir- 
able as it is practicable, that the normal schools should be altogetlier such as to 
afford an absolute rule and ex.act model for the guidance of the pupil, in the con- 
etruction and management of his own. 



EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW NORMAL iSCHOOLS. 433 

Department for Female Teachers. 
Female Schools of Industry. — There is a description of schools which is 
now rapidly increasing in Scotland, and extending to a lower class of the 
population than had been wont to have or to consider thetn as at all need- 
ful — the Female Schools of Industry. This is mainly the consequence of 
elementary education, in general, havinij taken more of a practical char- 
acter than formerly ; for the male children, somewhat modifying the 
course of literary instruction^ and occasionally attempting a specific pre- 
paration for some particular calling or handicraft. The same tendency 
would have led, of itself, to an instruction of the other sex in the usual 
arts of domestic industry ; but it was aided by this, that, while the period 
of school attendance was the same for both sexes, it was not requisite for 
the female to proceed so far in the different literary branches as the other, 
and so the opportunity arose of attending to those things that form the 
proper objects of a female school. The promoters of such schools are 
commonly benevolent ladies, who arc no strangers to the cottages of the 
poor, and who would endeavor by instruction of this sort to improve their 
domestic condition. It is not unusual, too. for the proprietors of public 
works, manufacturing or mining, to favor the people in their service with 
institutions of the kind. The Directors have, in these circumstances, 
attached to each of their normal seminaries a department for instruction iu 
needlework and knitting, and have opened it freely to female students 
desirous of undertaking the charge of schools of this description. 

This division of the seminary is conducted by the matron of the estab- 
lishment at Edinburgh, and at Glasgow by a mistress engaged for that 
single purpose. All the female children above seven years of age at the 
practising schools are, in both cases, permitted to attend in this department, 
without additional fee; and nearly all avail themselves of the privilege, 
each class attending for one hour daily. Their attention is wholly con- 
lined to the different sorts of work mentioned, and from the mistresses they 
receive ncithoi- literary nor religious instruction. The female students 
attend in this division during the whole time it is assembled — that is, for 
two hours and a half daily — antl they are employed mainly iu directing 
the classes, or attending to the directions of the mi.stress; and are them- 
selves instructed, during a portion of the time, by the mistress at the 
Glasgow school, in the more difficult kinds of work. In the general model 
school for the children of both sexes, they are employed four hours daily — 
half the time occupied, under the master's eye, in teaching the female 
classes; the other half, in observing how the masters teach. Two hours 
daily, they are themselves under instruction in reading, religious know- 
ledge, and the elements of grammar and geography. 

Female students are adnuttcd under the same regulation which has 
been formed in regard to those of the other sex who have not the benefit of 
free maintenance, and who do not engage to remain for any certain period. 
They are examined upon their knowledge of the elementary branches, 
before entering, only by the rector, and few have been at anytime rejected. 
The admission fee is £1 for the first four months, .5s for each of the next 
four months, and no further payment is required for the remainder of the 
term, the duration of which is optional. Admission is allowed at any time' 
of the year. 

No regular examination is undergone by the female students upon leav- 
ing the seminary; and far the greater number have left it to enter on the 
charge of schools to which they had been recommended by the Directors, 
— not more than four leaving the Edinburgh School, without any certain 
engagement. 

It is not proposed, in the mean time, to place this department of the 



434 EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

institution under any stricter regulations than the following; — 1. To with* 
hold certificates from those who have attended for a shorter period than 
three months; and, 2. To grant certificates to those who have proved a 
certain qualification in the elementary branches, after a formal examination 
by the superintending Committees, assisted by the rectors and masters. 
Syllabus of the Rector's Lectures on the Theory and art of Teaching, ad- 
dressed to the Students of the Normal histitution. Edinburgh. 
Introductory. 

1. The importance of education — most needful in every view — practicable — 
hopeful and encouraging. 

2. Moral requisites and qualifications of the educator ; (a) A correct view of his 
ofSce ; (6) Proper motives ; (c) A well regulated temper and disposition ; {d) A 
well-stored mind ; (e) Aptitude to teach ; (/) An irreproachable life. 

I — Man, the sttbject of Education. 

Knowledge of this an essential preliminary ; mental philosophy has not afforded 
the practical aid that might have been expected. 

The order, mode, and extent of the development of the human powers considered, 
with a practical reference. 1. Physical — historically first ; nature requiring the 
main share of time for sleep and recreation ; mental exertion, short and diversi- 
fied ; instincts to be regulated. 

2. Moral powers awake nearly at the dawn of existence ; should be early 
addressed and practically exercised ; impressed with the idea of God and account- 
ability to Him ; charity, purity, and uprightness inculcated. 

3. Intellectual — (a) Intuitive — developed through the perceptive powers ; truth9 
and facts impressed by attention, recalled by memory, combined by conception ; 
importance of educating the senses and training the powers of observation through 
object-lessons ; (6) Operative — nuderstand'mg investigates truth ; jiidgmeM traces 
its relations and tendency ; (c) Creative — imagination — reason controlling aU. 

II. — The End and Object of Education. 

The comprehensive and harmonious development of the powers in due place and 
proportion ; errors arising from the excess, deficiency, or misapplication of any 
element ; cUifiiiitions of different writers. 

III. — The Means for attaining the End. 

Pedagogy, education (properly so called) extending to every department 
throughouc — ( I ) childhood ; (2) youth; (3) manhood — from the houseliold to the 
school, from the school to the world and church. 

Pedeutics, instruction or schooling ; that department which is proper to the in- 
termediate period, yontli, when the faculties are made conversant with facts, 
occurrences, objects, and otherwise exercised for their due development. 

A. The parties by whom — the field in which — this should be carried out. 
Hospital, public school, or private education considered. 

B. The subject-matter of instruction : — [a) From the existence of man — speech 
and song ; (6) From the existence of space and matter — mathematics and form 
(painting, sculpture, &c.) ; (c) From tiie relation of man to God — Christianity ; (d) 
To the world — political economy ; (e) To animals — natural history ; (/) To sub- 
stances — chemistry, <i;c. 

The due place and comparative importance of the subjects of elementary and 
superior instruction. Reading, the key to all — 

Organs of speecli — origin and import of speech — invention of writing — alpha- 
bet, printing — on teaching the alphabet — Lancaster — Jacotot — Pillans. 

Elementary reading — 1st. The dogmatic system overburdens the memory ; 2nd. 
The scientific, difficult to accomplish in EngUsh; 3rd. Intellectual, the sense help- 
ing the sound. 

Theory of explanation and interrogation, elliptical and suggestive methods con- 
sidered — treatment of answers received — moral enforcing — application of lesson 
read. 

Examination of manuals for reading, and instructions in the proper way of 
teaching them. 



EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW NORMAL SCHOOL. 435 

Class method — individual, monitorial, simultaneous ; class conducted by single 
examination. 

Method not much apart from tlie man — consideration of the different subjects of 

school instruction — method of treating and art of imparting them, viz. spelling, 

grammar, religious instruction, geography, Avriting, drawing, arithmetic. 

School organization : 

A.rrangement of classes — tripartie division — school furnisliing. 

Disciphne : 

Theory of rewards and punishments. 

(Note.) — The design of these lectures is to counteract the tendency of the prac- 
tical engagements of the elementary school to degenerate into mere routine, or a 
copy of the superintending master. The subject discussed in the connected series 
is proposed as a theme for a weekly exercise, and is found highly beneficial, not 
only as regards the proficiency of the students in English composition, but like- 
wise as it engages their best thoughts in giving their own views of the different 
topics, and imparts an elevated tone to their professional pursuits. 



